


25th Annual Solesian National Spelling Bee

by supercantaloupe



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), Fantasy High
Genre: Academic competition, Campaign 01 Season 02: Fantasy High Sophomore Year (Dimension 20), Canon Compliant, Canon Typical Content, Character Study, Fantasy High Sophomore Year Spoilers (Dimension 20), Gen, High School, Magic, Sisters, Teenagers, reference to past child abuse/trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27444874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercantaloupe/pseuds/supercantaloupe
Summary: Adaine prepares to compete in the Solesian National Spelling Bee, a prestigious national competition for young magic users. Meanwhile, Aelwyn, freshly settled back in to life in Elmville, grapples with her relationships to her past, her future, her sister, and her friends.
Relationships: Adaine Abernant & Aelwyn Abernant, Aelwyn Abernant & The Bad Kids, The Bad Kids & The Bad Kids (Dimension 20)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Spell"ing bee as in magic spells, not orthography. Set post-sophomore year (spoilers for season 2).

“Adaine, I swear to the gods, open this door _ at once.”  _ The elder Abernant sister pounded her fist on the locked door to the library.

“Leave me alone, Aelwyn,” came the reply, the irritated and stressed-out voice of her younger sister from within. 

“Stop being a  _ child, _ this is  _ ridiculous,” _ Aelwyn griped, huffing. She went for the doorknob again, hand glowing a bit to unlock it with magic. A small shock of arcane energy pulsed around it as she felt a Counterspell from the other side. Aelwyn grunted loudly in frustration and pounded on the door again with her fist. A Message cantrip from her sister flashed across her mind, telling her to  _ fuck off already. _ “Oh, _ very _ mature, Adaine!” Aelwyn hissed. 

She went to bang on the door again, but this time was interrupted by an incorporeal head phasing through the wood and glaring at her. “Aelwyn,” he greeted flatly.

Aelwyn stopped herself and exhaled. “Zayn,” she returned, just as unamused. She folded her arms and pursed her lips at him. “What do you want?”

The ghost drifted further forward through the door and crossed his arms back at her. “You to shut up and leave us alone,” Zayn answered, raising a brow. “On behalf of the Elven Oracle, I’m telling you to fuck off.”

_ “Everyone’s Oracle!” _ Adaine corrected from within. 

Aelwyn scoffed. “And as the Oracle’s big sister, I’m telling  _ you _ to fuck off and _let me in_ already.”

“Absolutely not. We’re busy.” 

Aelwyn growled again, fingers tightening on her own arms. She’d been careful to file them down from pointed to rounded tips in cases like this. “Zayn, come on. Be reasonable.”

“I am,” he countered. “We’re studying.” 

“Do you even know what time it is?” Aelwyn scoffed, raising her voice a bit to make sure her sister knew the question was pointed at her. 

“Fuck off, Aelwyn,” came Adaine’s reply. 

“It’s almost two in the morning, Adaine, you  _ should _ be trancing right now.”

“I’m  _ busy.” _

“You’ll miss the bus in the morning. I’m not going to Teleport you there if you oversleep.”

“We’re  _ studying,” _ Zayn repeated. 

“I’ve already  _ told _ you you can copy from my notes,” Aelwyn sighed in frustration. “It will be  _ fine, _ Adaine, you  _ know _ what to do, but you  _ need to rest.” _

“I need to keep  _ studying,” _ Adaine protested firmly. “And I can do it  _ alone. _ I’m not gonna cheat off you.”

“You’ll need a full rest before tomorrow. Or you’ll wish you hadn’t wasted your spell slots on me.” She scowled at the door, as if her sister could see.

“That was me with the door,” Zayn said. Aelwyn ignored him.

“Go away,” Adaine simply repeated, unrelenting. 

Aelwyn dropped her arms, hands clenched into fists at her sides and jaw tightened and set firm. Perhaps on instinct she felt magic concentrating in her fingertips for some further action, but she met Zayn’s glare with her own and could tell instantly that he wasn’t going to let her go through him without a fight. She would win, but it wouldn’t be worth it. 

Dispelling the magic she’d readied and some of her anger, Aelwyn exhaled sharply and shook her hands once roughly. “Fine!” she huffed, shooting another sharp look at Zayn. “Fine, stay up all night long stressing yourselves out, and go in there tomorrow and fail, why don’t you. If that’s what you want, then  _ by all means, _ go ahead.” 

“Good, I shall,” Adaine replied from inside, huffing. Zayn eyed Aelwyn and nodded coldly. Aelwyn glared at him for another beat before turning and stalking angrily off down the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Aelwyn stomped her way through the halls of Mordred Manor and down to the kitchen. As much as one could roughly and angrily pull a mug down from the cupboard, shove it into the coffee maker, and set it to brew without breaking anything, Aelwyn managed. The machine hissed to life and hummed as it heated. Aelwyn leaned on the counter beside the sink and hung her head, trying to think through the breathing exercises and anger management techniques she’d been working on with her therapist recently. Deep breath in, hold it, out slowly. Unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, stop gripping the counter so hard your knuckles turn white--

Her ears twitched as she heard someone else enter the kitchen a moment later. Aelwyn whipped her head around to see who it was and glare at them over her shoulder. She found the human girl, Kristen Applebees, wearing soft, summery pajamas and her red hair in a very messy bun. Kristen smiled cheerily at Aelwyn, as if the elf’s glare wasn’t as sharp as daggers.

“Hey,” she chirped in greeting.

“...Hey,” Aelwyn answered, relaxing and standing up straighter, leaning less on the counter. She still frowned, though most of her venom went away. Aelwyn would not have called herself ‘friends’ by any means with any of her sister’s party mates; she was two years older than the oldest of them, anyway, and there was still the old elephant in the room of trying to kill each other at Ostentatia’s party they had yet to really address. But at least now, a month and a half after coming home from spring break, they’d gotten used to each other enough to relax a bit around each other. Or at least those who also lived in the manor, anyway. “...You’re up awfully late,” Aelwyn commented, tilting her head slightly. “I thought humans needed a lot more sleep than most.”

“Normally, yeah,” Kristen shrugged and came over to the island counter in the middle of the kitchen, hopping up and sitting on it. 

Aelwyn made a face. “We make  _ food _ there,” she pointed out, disapproving. Kristen seemed to either not notice or not care. 

“I heard a bunch of noise in the house,” Kristen continued. Aelwyn pursed her lips. “And I was already kind of up anyway, so. Figured I’d come in and get a snack while I’m up.” She shrugged again, then nodded in Aelwyn’s direction. “You mind tossing me one of those?” 

Aelwyn glanced aside, finding the bowl of fruit on the counter beside the sink to which the human was referring. She exhaled and dismissively waved a hand, casting a Mage Hand cantrip to grab an orange from the bowl and toss it over to Kristen. She caught it and grinned, offering a quick “thanks!” as she began to dig her thumbnail into the rind and peel it. 

Aelwyn didn’t make eye contact, instead keeping her gaze fixed squarely on the coffee maker. Drip by drip her mug filled, and fragrant steam wafted up out of it. She sighed. “...you heard our little yelling match, then,” she said, more of a statement than a question.

“Mhm,” Kristen said, depositing her orange peels bit by bit in a little pile next to her on the counter. She pried one section out from the orange and popped it in her mouth, adding, “I’m guessing this is about the Bee tomorrow?”

Aelwyn exhaled again softly. “Yeah.” She drummed her fingertips on the countertop.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“You want to not talk with your mouth full?” Aelwyn shot back on instinct, then regretted it. “Sorry, I--” she retracted, glancing back to see Kristen with a whole section of orange stuffed in her mouth and peeking out at her like a clownish grin. Aelwyn snorted and her eyes went wide. She quickly covered her own mouth with her hand. Kristen began to giggle, and sucked the orange back into her mouth to eat. “...Okay, yeah. Sure,” Aelwyn relented, dropping her hand and relaxing. As she chewed, Kristen smiled normally. 

“What’s up?”

Aelwyn took another deep breath. “She’s very... _ focused _ on preparing for the Spelling Bee tomorrow,” she began, again drumming her fingers on the countertop. “She always gets like this before exams and practicals, I’m sure you know.”

“Mhm,” Kristen agreed. “Stays up all night studying. Always gets an A, though.”

“Exactly,” Aelwyn said, gesturing with one hand. “She’s a much smarter wizard than she realizes, and I know  _ she  _ knows that she’s good.” Aelwyn punctuated her statements with her hand in the air. “She doesn’t  _ need _ to stay up til two in the morning stressing over her notes in the library. She  _ needs _ to relax and get some rest. You need spell slots for the Bee.”

“I think her spending so much time studying is what  _ makes _ her do so well, though?” Kristen suggested.

Aelwyn shook her head. “There’s studying, and then there’s overkill,” she huffed. “Really. I’ve told her a dozen times now she can just copy my notes. I  _ want _ to help her here, and she won’t  _ let _ me.”

The coffee maker hissed and finished its cycle. Aelwyn reached over and took her mug, wrapping one hand around it and feeling the heat through the ceramic warm her fingers. With a wave of her other hand she cast Mage Hand again to bring over a lump of sugar, drop it in the mug, and stir it in. 

Kristen watched quietly for a beat, then asked, “Why is it such a big deal to you that you can’t help?”

Aelwyn paused, frowning neatly at nothing in particular, and thought about that. The warmth of the mug in her hands grounded her and kept her calm. “...You know I’m...trying to be a better sister to her,” she began, after a moment. Kristen nodded. “I know how important these tests are to her, and how hard it is to do them on your own.”

“She’s not on her own,” Kristen pointed out. “Her and Zayn are studying together, right?”

“Right. Well, I have experience that I  _ know _ would be useful for them, but she won’t listen to me.” Her fingers curled a little tighter around her mug, her lips twitched a little closer to scowling. “I don’t see  _ why _ she won’t let me  _ help.” _

“I dunno,” Kristen shrugged again, chewing on another section of orange. “Why do  _ you _ wanna help her so much?”

Aelwyn considered that again. “...I never did before, when I could have. Should have. I’d like to now.” Now that there were no parents to force them to work alone, to compete. “...I don’t know.”

Kristen nodded again, understanding. “Nah, I get it. It’s a big sister thing.” 

Aelwyn looked over at her, confused. “You’re not her older sister.”

Kristen giggled. “I mean, I  _ am _ older than her, by like two months,” Aelwyn scoffed. “And I  _ am _ dating Tracker, who’s Jawbone’s niece, but basically like his daughter, and now Adaine’s  _ also _ basically his daughter, so in a way--”

“No,” Aelwyn interrupted, making a face. “No, you’re really not.”

“Alright,” Kristen continued giggling. “So I’m not  _ her _ big sister, but I’m still a big sister.”

Aelwyn lifted a brow, skeptical. “You?”

The human nodded. “Yeah, I have three little brothers,” she explained casually. Aelwyn blinked. “Oh. I guess you never heard about them. Yeah. Bucky, Bricker, and Cork,” she listed off.

“I didn’t know that,” Aelwyn said simply.

“Yeah. I don’t, uh, see them too much anymore,” Kristen went on, her smile waxing nostalgic, happy memories laced with bittersweet. “They’re pretty young. They still live with my parents.”

“And you don’t,” Aelwyn continued, stating the obvious. There was an uncomfortable beat of silence before she continued, “Were you, um…”

“Kicked out?” Kristen finished for her. Aelwyn looked sheepish to say it, but nodded. “Not  _ really, _ I chose to leave more than anything else, but...it wasn’t really great for me to stay. The Applebees are, like,  _ really _ Helionic, and weren’t super happy when I started making all kinds of elf and orc and goblin friends, and dating Tracker, and going back on being a Chosen of Helio and founding entirely new religions and stuff.”

“Oh,” was all Aelwyn could respond.

“Yeah. It’s cool, it’s worked out for me I think. I do miss them, though,” Kristen continued, rolling a bit of the white orange pith between her fingers in thought. “I hope they’re doing okay. I don’t see them very much anymore. Our parents are kind of, a  _ lot _ . Not like yours were, but, different kind of a _ lot.” _

“I see.”

“Anyway, as a fellow big sister,” Kristen went on declaratively, stuffing another orange section in her mouth. “I know where you’re coming from. You wanna help Adaine ‘cause you’ve been there before and know what to do and know no one else like your parents are gonna do it for you, and you don’t want her to make mistakes you know how to avoid.”

Aelwyn blinked again. “That’s...a remarkable assessment,” she said, genuinely a little surprised.

“Sisters!” Kristen chirped, grinning again. “Anyway, I think this is one of those things you’re just not gonna be able to do for her.”

Aelwyn’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Y’know, like, some things they just gotta learn themselves. You can’t always heal every scrape your brothers get when they fall off their bikes because otherwise they’ll never learn to ride them properly without getting hurt,” Kristen explained. Looking at Aelwyn’s face, she could tell that example didn’t really sink in, so she continued, trying another explanation. “I mean, even if you  _ want _ to help, and even if you  _ are _ trying to be better sisters than before, and even if your shitty parents  _ are _ gone, I think there’s still stuff she feels like she wants to do on her own without you. You’re sisters, but you don’t have to do  _ everything _ together.”

It was a little bit of a hard thought to swallow for Aelwyn. Besides her therapy sessions and working with the immigration office and Sklonda at the police department to clear her criminal record and gain citizenship, Aelwyn really did not have a social life beyond Mordred Manor yet, and spent most of her time either alone or with Adaine. She didn’t  _ have _ anyone else to hold on to anymore; was she holding on too strongly to her baby sister?

Aelwyn sighed again. “I just want her to do well. The Bee is stressful for everybody; her especially. I remember what happened last time,” she said, referring to a panic attack Adaine had suffered years ago, at the junior division competition in middle school, and the subsequent berating she’d gotten from their parents for failing to place in the top three. “I don’t want to see that happen ever again. Not if I can help it.”

“Mm,” Kristen nodded. “Yeah. But I mean, hey, she’s got her meds now, she’s got Boggy--”

“He’s a spell. She won’t be allowed to bring him to competition,” Aelwyn pointed out, interrupting.

“--irregardless,” Kristen continued.

“Not a word,” Aelwyn muttered.

“It’s like you said, she’s a better wizard than she thinks. She’s gonna be fine on her own.” Kristen said. “And I think she also knows, if she needs anything, she can come to you for help.”

“...Mm,” Aelwyn said thoughtfully, looking down at the coffee in her hands. It was hard to accept the idea that she’d have to be so hands-off for this. Maybe she could find a way to help from the sidelines; not step in to do anything for her sister directly, but to let her know she’s there if she needs. “Right. Thanks,” Aelwyn said with an exhale after a moment. She pushed off from leaning on the counter and began to leave, mug in hand.

“Anytime,” Kristen chirped. “Here,” she added, tearing off a couple of the last remaining sections of her orange and holding them out to Aelwyn as she passed by. “You want some?” Kristen offered.

Aelwyn slowed and blinked, staring first at the orange sections and then at the girl’s face. She found nothing but easygoing kindness in the human’s green eyes and freckled cheeks. Gingerly, she took the orange sections from her hand. They felt cool and plump between her fingers. “...Thank you, Kristen,” she said, quite sincerely, meeting the girl’s eye.

“Of course,” Kristen smiled again, popping the last remaining section into her mouth.


	3. Chapter 3

Aelwyn returned to knock gently on the door to Mordred Manor library. “Adaine?” she asked, softly but loud enough to be heard through the wall.

“Aelwyn, I  _ swear, _ if you don’t stop bothering us--” 

“Hey, truce,  _ truce,” _ Aelwyn interrupted, instinctively holding up a hand as though to throw up a Shield spell, as if anticipating another attack. “I just want to talk for a second.”

“We’re busy.”

“Just for a moment. Will you let me in?”

No response. Aelwyn sighed and continued anyway.

“I just wanted to let you know I brought you some coffee. I figured you might like some if you’re staying up to study. I’ll leave it out here for you if you want it,” she said, setting the mug she’d made for herself down on the floor in front of the door. She didn’t hear anything from within the room, no movement or whispering or anything. “I can get you something else if you’d like. Something to eat, your arcane focus, your frog…?” she offered. No response. Aelwyn sighed again. “...Okay. Well. It’s two in the morning. We’re leaving the house at six-thirty to catch the bus in time. I’m going to bed. I do hope you’ll trance before then, but. Do whatever you think is best,” she continued, as calmly and genuinely as she could. 

Still no response. With a very soft exhale, Aelwyn dropped her head a little. “Okay. Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned and left, retreating down the hallway and up the stairs to the wizard’s tower.


	4. Chapter 4

At 6 a.m. sharp, Aelwyn was awake and getting ready for the day. She climbed down from her top bunk, noticing to her chagrin that there was no evidence of her sister having joined her in their room that night; bottom bed sheets still neatly folded, frog still in his terrarium on Adaine’s desk. Aelwyn simply sighed and left the tower, heading to the bathroom to wash up and dress for the day, having picked out to wear a pale grey tank top, a pair of denim shorts, and a red flannel to throw over top. 

(Passing the library door in the hallway, it was a minor relief at least to see the coffee mug she’d left on the floor had disappeared.)

Coming downstairs, she found Jawbone, Sandra Lynn, and Tracker congregated in the kitchen. “Good morning, Aelwyn,” Sandra Lynn greeted. She was busy packing snacks and drinks into paper bags for them to take along for the ride. 

“Mornin’, kiddo,” Jawbone greeted cheerily. “Wanted to whip up some breakfast for you kids before you head out,” he said, ladling hot oatmeal from a pot on the stove into a bowl and handing it to Aelwyn. “Here you go. Sugar and cinnamon and what all’s on the table,” he motioned over to where Tracker was already sitting and eating. 

“Thank you,” Aelwyn said simply, taking the bowl and joining Tracker at the table. She looked up and gave a silent nod in greeting to the elf. Aelwyn returned the gesture and spooned some brown sugar, cinnamon, and dried fruit into her bowl. “You haven’t seen my sister up yet, have you?” she asked, trying to sound conversational and not worried. Tracker shook her head.

“Not yet, no,” she answered. 

Aelwyn sighed quietly and jabbed at her oatmeal with a spoon, stirring in the toppings. “Right.”

“I think Kristen went up to check on her,” Tracker added, shoving a forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth. Aelwyn looked up. 

“Oh?” she asked. Instinct told her to get up and check too, but sense kept her in her seat, so she stayed, and poked some more at her breakfast. 

“Yeah,” Tracker said, finishing her bite. 

“They better hurry up and come down soon,” Sandra Lynn added from the counter. “You’ll want to head out soon if you want to be on time.” Aelwyn frowned.

“She’ll be down soon,” they heard a voice say. Zayn drifted through the ceiling and into the room a second later, looking more or less identical to how he always looked; staying up late meant very little to him as a ghost. Aelwyn kept quiet and ate her breakfast, but looked over at him intently.

“How did studying go last night, kiddo?” Jawbone asked. “You kids were up pretty late, I heard.”

Zayn nodded. “Went okay. Got a lot done. Adaine drifted off to trance at her desk after a while and overslept. Kristen’s helping her get ready, they should be down in a sec.”

As if on cue, the two girls came plodding down the stairs, through the hall, and into the kitchen. Adaine strode in holding a stack of books, her sword hanging securely from the holster strapped to her hip, backpack confidently slung from her shoulders. Behind her Kristen trailed her in, holding more books, and an empty coffee mug.

“Here we are,” Kristen announced, coming over to the table. She set the books and mug down and leaned over to steal a kiss from Tracker. “Morning, babe!” she chirped. 

Aelwyn was instead focused on her sister, and they briefly made eye contact; Adaine wore her usual double-denim attire, but behind her glasses Aelwyn could see sime exhaustion still set under her eyes. Adaine looked away and moved to set her books down on the counter. 

Sandra Lynn looked at her watch. “You’re running late. You kids should head out now,” she said.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Adaine apologized, brushing some hair out of her face. “I didn’t realize the time--” 

“No worries,” Jawbone said, spooning the last of the oatmeal out into two disposable coffee cups. “You can take your breakfast to go,” he said, turning around and handing one cup to Adaine and one to Kristen. “Toppings are on the table. Let’s load up and head on out!” 

He picked up Kristen’s stack of books and headed outside. Sandra Lynn followed, bringing with her the snack bags she’d packed. Zayn simply drifted through the wall and went to meet them at the car. Tracker wolfed down the last of her eggs and brought her plate over to the sink. Kristen dumped sugar into her oatmeal and stole another kiss before the two of them headed out as well. Aelwyn finished about half of her bowl before bringing it to the table, and watched carefully as Adaine took a last-minute inventory of something in her notebook and ignored her oatmeal.

“Adaine,” Aelwyn said. Her sister didn’t even look up.

“Yeah?” she responded, distracted, whispering to herself as she read through her notebook. 

Aelwyn cleared her throat. Adaine finally looked up at her. “What would you like in your oatmeal?” she asked. She’d wanted to say something else, but blanched.

“Um,” Adaine responded, glancing over the stuff on the table. “Whatever is fine,” she said, a little dismissively, and buried her nose again in her book. 

“Alright.” Aelwyn frowned. Not the response she was hoping for, but she’d resolved not to push her sister too hard today, and let her deal with things as she wanted to, so Aelwyn didn’t press her. She spooned some extra fruit and a little bit of sugar and cinnamon into her sister’s cup and stuck in a plastic spoon to go. “Here,” she said gently, setting it on the counter next to Adaine.

“Thanks,” her sister muttered, still very obviously distracted. 

Sandra Lynn returned to the kitchen. “Time to head out, girls, bus won’t wait forever.”

Adaine looked up at her, then glanced at her sister. “Can you grab these?” she asked simply, referring to her books. Aelwyn nodded and picked up the stack, while Adaine double-checked her inventory: her backpack, her frog, her notebook, her spellbook, her sword, her breakfast, her wits about her. Before she could go, Sandra Lynn gave her a brief hug and a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Knock ‘em dead today, sweetie, you’ve got this,” she said.

Adaine breathed in and let it out. She didn’t quite smile, but she was almost there. “Thanks, Sandra Lynn.”

“Say hi to Fig for me. You’ll be great.” Sandra Lynn patted her on the shoulder on her way out. She made eye contact with Aelwyn too, just before she could follow her sister out. “Goes for you too, Aelwyn.”

“I’m not competing,” Aelwyn reminded her.

“I know,” Sandra Lynn said, putting a hand on Aelwyn’s arm and pulling her close enough to give her a motherly kiss on the forehead as well. “Still. Have a good one. You’ll do great.”

Aelwyn blinked at her for a second, before nodding and slipping out of the kitchen. 

She was the last to arrive out at the car, but as the oldest of the kids had a sort of automatic unspoken dibs on shotgun. She loaded Adaine’s books into the trunk and slammed it shut, then hopped in the car.

“Everyone buckled up?” Jawbone asked from the driver’s seat, glancing first at Aelwyn and then at the three girls squished in the back seat.

“Yep!” Kristen affirmed.

“Great, let’s head on out!” he barked, putting the car in reverse and backing out of the manor’s driveway. Glancing behind her during the drive, Aelwyn stole glances at her sister, who, squished up against the door, alternated between staring at her notebook and shoveling oatmeal into her mouth while Kristen and Tracker had an animated conversation beside her.

Several minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of the Aguefort Adventuring Academy. For an early Saturday morning in May, the school was remarkably populated, as a couple of professors milled around taking attendance of students and loading them onto the waiting bus. Kristen, Tracker, Adaine, Aelwyn and Zayn all climbed out of the car and retrieved their things from the trunk. Jawbone wished them luck and waved them off before driving back home, leaving the kids to make their ways over to the bus.

“Ah, Miss Abernant and Mister Darkshadow! Welcome, welcome!” they were greeted by Arthur Aguefort, grinning in his signature gaudy purple suit. “Jace, tick them off the list, will you?” he prompted, waving a hand to the sorcery teacher standing taking attendance at his side with a clipboard.

“Good morning, Professors,” Adaine greeted, sounding as cheery as she could manage before 7 o’ clock. “We’re not too late, are we?”

“Nope, you two are just in time,” Jace commented, though they were the last expected students to arrive, all others already loaded onto the bus. 

“Never! Not with time itself on our side!” Arthur said with a flourish, a wink, and a laugh. Despite his quirkiness, or perhaps because of it, Adaine seemed to visibly relax.

Jace meanwhile peered up from his clipboard and took quick note of the extra heads. He pursed his lips and raised a brow, pointing at Kristen with the eraser of his pencil. “You aren’t on the list,” he clicked his tongue, double-checking.

“Oh, I’m not competing, I’m just going for fun,” Kristen explained. 

“I don’t go here,” Tracker added.

“She’s with me.” Kristen grinned. 

“There’s plenty of room on the bus, that’s fine.” Jace simply shrugged and penciled ‘Kristen + guest’ onto the clipboard. He looked up once again, this time at Aelwyn. “And you are…?”

“Aelwyn Abernant. I’m here to accompany my sister,” Aelwyn said, with a decisive frown. She stood up straight and proper -- a lingering habit of hers around adults.

“Coolio. Climb aboard.” Jace nodded and penciled her in as well. Arthur gestured grandly to the plain yellow school bus before them. Zayn phased through the side, while the others climbed aboard through the door at the front, followed by the professors. They each nodded their good mornings to the driver and moved to take their seats. 

In addition to two of the school’s wizard professors sitting up front, the bus had maybe a half-dozen other students spread around, mostly wizards in their junior and senior years, all chatting with each other, listening to music on their crystals, reading, or napping. Kristen made a beeline for the very back row, pulling Tracker along with her so they could cuddle during the ride. Adaine stayed hovering near the front of the bus for a few minutes, when one of the teachers stopped her as she went by to talk about something. Aelwyn, not wanting to pressure her sister at all, selected an empty seat near the rear of the bus, not very close to anyone else. She sat down and leaned against the window, pulling out a book to read on the ride, and trying not to pay too much attention to Adaine while they went, reminding herself that her little sister is more than capable of taking care of herself and preparing for the Bee on her own.

A couple of moments later, the bus door hissed closed and the engine rumbled into gear. They began moving, out the parking lot and onto the road. “And we’re off!” Arthur Aguefort called heartily from the front of the bus. “In just a few short hours, we’ll be in Bastion City for the annual Solesian Spelling Bee! For now, rest, study, and prepare yourselves...for the competition of a lifetime!” He gestured grandly with his arms, met with the absolute boredom and disinterest of the students who were fully used to his shit by now. Aelwyn scoffed to herself and went back to reading, thinking of her own experiences with the Bee.  _ Some sorry adventurers these must be, _ she reasoned,  _ if the Bee is the most difficult and exciting magic they’ll ever have to do. Then again, _ she thought,  _ not just everyone has to deal with parents like ours… _

“Can I sit with you, Aelwyn?” she heard someone ask. Aelwyn shook out of her thoughts and looked up from her book, finding her sister standing in the aisle, holding something folded in her arms.

Aelwyn blinked at her, not expecting this, but not at all unwelcoming to it either. She scooted over to make some room. “Of course, sister.” Adaine sat down on the edge of the seat beside her. “Would you like the window seat?” Aelywn offered. Adaine nodded, and Aelwyn stood and shuffled over to swap places. “What’s this?” she asked, meaning the folded thing Adaine now held to her lap.

“Oh,” Adaine said, beginning to unfold it and hold it up for her to see. It was a red and white jacket, similar to the lettermans the bloodrush team wore, though the material was softer. On the front over the chest was the school logo, with text reading  _ Aguefort Adventuring Academy _ and  _ Senior Speller. _ “They got us matching jackets, like for the sports teams,” Adaine explained, turning it around. The back of hers featured a stylized runic eye symbol and bore her last name. 

“Are you going to wear it for the Bee?” Aelwyn asked. She knew how fond Adaine was of her denim jacket, but as a magical item, they both knew she wouldn’t be permitted to wear it for competition. 

“Yeah. I think so. I think everybody’s gonna wear theirs.”

“Very good,” Aelwyn nodded as Adaine folded the jacket back onto her lap, then shrugged off her backpack to retrieve something.  _ Hudol used to do the same thing,  _ she thought, remembering her old competition outfit, an especially dressy blue prep school uniform.  _ I wonder what happened to that old thing, _ she thought idly, either not remembering or choosing to ignore the fact that it had no doubt burnt to a crisp when the rest of their former house went up in flames the previous year.

To Aelwyn’s moderate surprise, Adaine did not retrieve any books to keep studying from her backpack. Instead, she reached in and pulled out Boggy, who ribbited happily in her hands. She set the backpack down on the floor beside her feet and squeezed the frog to her chest, sighing. Aelwyn watched, noticing how tired, how stressed her sister still looked, how much her familiar seemed to help but didn’t fix everything all the way. She trusted her sister had studied enough, but didn’t quite believe that she’d gotten her full trance in last night. 

“How are you feeling?” Aelwyn asked after a short silence. Adaine glanced over at her.

“Fine, I suppose,” Adaine answered. 

“Ready for the Bee?”

Adaine shrugged. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Oh, come on now, little miss Oracle,” Aelwyn teased lightly, offering a smile. “You of all people should know it’ll turn out fine.” Adaine chuckled once and glanced away, perhaps hiding a hint of a grin of her own. 

They lapsed into silence again. Aelwyn frowned, went back to her book, couldn’t focus, tried to pretend she wasn’t paying as much attention to Adaine as she was. Adaine mostly stared out the window, holding Boggy in her lap, occasionally yawning surreptitiously, as though her ever-attentive sister wouldn’t notice. Aelwyn glanced around them, around the bus, and noted that absolutely nobody else gave even half a fuck about them, all absorbed in their own worlds during the long, early ride to Bastion City. 

Leaning in a little more, Aelwyn lowered her voice and said, “You know, Adaine, it’s quite a long drive to the Bee. If you were to, say, get a little extra trance in during the ride,” she raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think anyone would mind too terribly.”

Adaine peered at her sideways, pursing her lips, studying her face for what she could possibly be wanting or planning from this. But Adaine was smart enough (and tired enough) to realize the sincerity and worth of the suggestion. 

“Mm. Maybe,” she answered, shifting her seat a little. She still stared out the window and held Boggy to her lap, but Aelwyn felt her sister lean on her shoulder a bit more, and in a few minutes heard her breathing grow regular and even with trance. She smiled to herself and went back to reading her book, passing the time on the rest of the drive, and cherishing the little victories when she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writes fic about a spelling bee, takes five chapters to get to the actual bee


	5. Chapter 5

In a couple of hours’ time, the bus had crossed the Solesian countryside, wound its way through Bastion City streets, and arrived at its destination. While participant check-in had begun early, general check-in and the event’s official opening began promptly at 9, precisely when they arrived. By any normal means, the drive from Elmville should have taken longer, but it wasn’t a concern with Arthur Aguefort at the helm. The bus pulled up to the front entrance and let the students out before driving off to park. 

While regional level competitions usually happened in the biggest high school auditorium in a given town, the National Spelling Bee was a much larger affair hosted in the nation’s capital. This year, for its 25th anniversary, no expenses were spared, and the event was held in the convention center to make room for everything. Large numbers of other students, teachers, and other guests were arriving and filing inside. 

Before going in together as a group, the Aguefort Spellers took a moment to regroup, admire the building, the fact that they had really all made it here. Kristen and Tracker were surely impressed at the scale of the event and the grandeur of the building at which it was hosted; the Abernant sisters were less so. Aelwyn merely looked around, soaking in the strange (but expected) déjà vu. Adaine mostly ignored it, focused, keeping her head down. She knelt to the ground to shrug off her backpack and put Boggy away safely.

“I’ll hold on to this for you,” Aelwyn offered, helping her sister pull off her denim jacket. “In case you need anything.” Adaine nodded, shrugging her new owlbears jacket on. Slinging her backpack back onto her shoulders, she stood and noticed the rest of the Aguefort Spellers had donned their jackets, too. All matching red and white, everybody’s was customized on the back to bear their own last names and a symbol representing their school of magic.

“Hey, pretty cool!” Zayn said, admiring his and turning around to show it off. His jacket must have been enchanted somehow to allow his incorporeal form to wear it. There was a stylized, drippy skull on his back, underneath big letters reading  _ Darkshadow. _

“Badass,” Adaine agreed, smiling at him. 

“Let’s see yours,” he returned. Adaine shrugged her backpack off again and turned to show him. “Hey, nice one, Oracle.”

“Just a regular diviner today,” she corrected, once again securing her bag on her shoulders. Indeed, one of the other wizards from the team, a senior and fellow diviner, had the same eye symbol emblazoned on their jacket as well. “No special tricks up my sleeve. I want to win fair and square.” And no flaunting her position around to other contestants, either. The last thing Adaine wanted today was to deal with the hassle of everyone knowing the Oracle was competing. Zayn nodded, understanding.

Jace clapped his hands to get their attention. “Let’s head inside.”

The group moved in through the front doors. The entrance hall was populated with lines of people waiting to check in at various tables set up. Beyond them was the rest of the convention hall. Though the event had only just begun, there was already a thrum of activity and noise from within. 

“Participants sign in on this side,” Jace explained, motioning to the tables on one side of the hall, “Guests register over there,” he pointed to the far side. “Spellers, you’ll get your schedules when you check in. Opening Announcements are at 9:30, first competitions at 10. You’ve got all day to do what you’d like when you’re not busy, and we’ll meet up again after the final Bee to drive back. Clear?” The assembled students nodded. Jace clapped his hands once again. “Fantastic! Good luck today,” he concluded, and they dispersed. 

Aelwyn walked with Adaine to find the right check-in table. While the Bee was open to any magic students regardless of class, it tended to be most heavily populated by wizard participants, who tended to be the most well-versed in the scholastic realm of the arcane. As a result, there were several check-in tables just for wizards, divided up with two or three schools of magic each, and one final table at the end for all other classes of students. Finding the sign-in table for divination and conjuration wizards, Adaine took her place in line and looked to her sister.

“You know what to do, don’t give me that look,” Aelwyn said, squeezing her arm. “You’ll be fine.”

Adaine exhaled and nodded. Aelwyn slipped away, heading to the other side of the hall to sign in as a guest. The line moved at a decent pace, and soon she was at the front. “Abernant, Adaine. High elven diviner. Sophomore at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy,” she listed off for the man at the table. He scanned through the lists of names on his papers and found her right at the top. 

“Welcome to the Bee, Miss Abernant,” he said casually, crossing her name off the list with a highlighter. “Any familiars, arcane foci, or magical objects?” 

“Um, yes,” Adaine stammered. “A focus and a familiar.” He raised an eyebrow at her to prompt her to continue. “Um, a sword and a frog,” she elaborated. “Oh, and a snap bracelet.”

The man nodded and marked something down on the sign-in sheet. “No magical items permitted in the written exams or the Final Bee. You can get the familiar, focus, and anything else appraised by the judges before practicals to see if they’re permissible. Here is your schedule,” he listed off, thumbing through a stack of papers, pulling one out, and handing it to her. “Have a nice day and good luck.”

Adaine thanked him, took the schedule, and shuffled off into the main hall. The room already buzzed with life as students chatted together in groups and guests milled around. Rows of tables were set up displaying research, student projects, magic items for sale or trade, and demonstrations, like a cross between a science fair and a comic convention. She took a deep breath and tried not to get overwhelmed already, first scanning through her schedule and then scanning the heads of the crowd for anyone she recognized. No sign of the Bad Kids or Aelwyn yet, maybe they were still in line to check in? Here were the familiar red jackets of the other Aguefort Spellers, there she spotted the same old blue of Hudol students in the crowd, too, but no one she actually knew could she see anywhere. She looked back down at her schedule, flipped through the pages, trying to figure out where to go and when, trying not to let herself get stressed--

“Excuse me,” someone said, tapping her on the shoulder. She nearly jumped. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” they said. Adaine blinked and looked up to see who it was, finding another elf. She had neatly braided hair and eyes like smoky quartz. “I was behind you in line to check-in; did you say you were a high elf?” The girl asked. Adaine nodded, frowning. The girl exhaled as though greatly relieved and smiled. “Oh, wonderful! It seems like forever since I’ve met another high elf,” she said, switching from speaking Common to Elvish. Adaine recognized her accent as the girl stuck out her hand to shake in greeting. “Emmandriel Lanethryn,” she introduced herself.

Adaine meekly shook her hand. “Adaine Abernant,” she returned. “You’re from Fallinel?” she asked, blinking. 

Emmandriel blinked back and laughed. “Yeah! Exchange student. The Arcturus School of Magic out in Runekeep. Not many high elves out there. It’s great to meet you! How did you know?”

“Your accent,” Adaine admitted. “I recognize it.”

“So you’ve been!” Emmandriel continued, excitedly. “You’re not from there too, are you?”

“I, er,” Adaine started awkwardly. “Had family there,” she admitted, not wanting to lie but not at all wanting to get into any of the details. “I’ve visited once or twice.”

“Yo! Adaine!” She was saved by a familiar voice calling her name. Turning to look, both girls found a very punk rock tiefling bounding her way over from within the crowd in the main convention hall. “There you are! Been lookin’ for you, girl! Did you just get here?” she asked, slowing to a stop near the elves and catching her breath. 

“Fig! Hi,” Adaine said, smiling and exhaling a little in comfort to see a her face again. “Yes, I just checked in, I--”

She was interrupted again by a screeching noise from within the hall. All three girls winced and turned to look, seeing a pair of flaming wings shoot into the air above the visitors’ heads and swoop over to them. The wings, and the woman they were attached to, landed in a flutter beside them. 

“There you are, I found you, Fig,” she said, a fretting expression on her face. “We got separated and it worried me. This crowd is overwhelming.”

“No worries, babe,” the tiefling grinned, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. “Sorry I ran off. I found Adaine, though!”

“Adaine! Hello!” the half-phoenix chirped, concern dissolving into excitement. “It’s good to see you again!”

Adaine smiled wider. “Ayda! Hi! I’m really glad you could make it today.”

Ayda noticed the other elf, and trained her eyes of flame on the girl curiously. “Who is this?”

Emmandriel blinked at the sight of the newcomers. “Wow,” she said, slightly incredulously. “Hello there,” she greeted again in Common, grinning and sticking out her hand for them to shake. “Emmandriel Lanethryn. You can call me Emma if you’d like.”

The tiefling took her hand first and shook it firmly. “The name’s Fig. Nice to meet’cha.” 

Following her lead, Ayda shook the girl’s hand next. “Ayda.”

Emma’s eyes widened slightly. “Fig? As in the _Sig Figs?”_

Fig smirked, fiddling coolly with a guitar pick in her fingers. “The one and only.”

“Wow!!” Emma exclaimed, brushing her hair back with one hand in excitement. “I didn’t realize you were playing Bastion City this weekend!” 

“‘S kind of a last minute gig! We mostly came down to see Adaine compete and figured, hey, why not come down a night early for an impromptu show somewhere, y’know?”

Emma shifted her incredulous look back to Adaine, who paled.  _ “You’re _ friends with the  _ Sig Figs??” _

“Best friends,” Ayda corrected plainly. They had the matching friendship bracelets (courtesy of Kristen) to prove it.

“Hell yeah, we are!” Fig answered, throwing an arm around her wizard and giving her a squeeze. “We’re adventuring partymates!”

“You three?” Emma looked among them, an eclectic bunch on first inspection. She chuckled. 

Ayda nodded. “Yes. While I am a relative newcomer to their group, Fig and Adaine and their party have saved the world on multiple occasions already. Adaine is--” Ayda paused as Adaine made a face, caught her eye, and sent a surreptitious Message cantrip. “--quite an accomplished wizard at her age,” she concluded. Adaine exhaled. 

“Wow.” Emma looked Ayda up and down, impressed at the half-phoenix’s tattoos and spellbook holsters. “Are you a wizard as well?”

“I am, yes. Myself and Adaine are both diviners.”

“Me too! I’m going to have some serious competition to beat today, huh?” Emma chuckled.

“It is likely. But I am not competing, I am not a student of Solace,” Ayda continued calmly. 

“That’s too bad,” Emma said. “Although, I guess it helps our chances, huh? Less competition,” she continued, giving a wink to Adaine, who chuckled nervously. 

“Yeah,” she agreed half-heartedly.

“Adaine,” she heard her sister’s voice call. From the sign-in tables, Aelwyn wound her way through the crowd and over to the assembled group. “There you are.”

“Hey,” Adaine returned. “Is everything okay?”

Aelwyn took a quick note of the group members, especially the face she didn’t recognize. “You have your schedule, right?” Adaine nodded. “It’s almost time for Opening.”

Adaine pulled her crystal from her pocket and blanched, seeing the time. “Shit, which way is the--?”

“Auditorium A, first door on your left,” Aelwyn said, pointing down the hall.

Adaine secured her backpack straps on her shoulder and headed in that direction, turning around and moving backwards for a second so she could call back to them “I’ll catch you guys later!” before turning back again, dodging eventgoers and running off to get a seat in time.

“I should go too, I’ll see you around later?” Emma said, beginning to go.

“Sure. Seeya.” Fig waved her off. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. Aelwyn watched them go, an odd thoughtful look on her face. The three stood in silence for a moment, staring down the hallway. 

“So,” Fig continued, sniffing to break the tension. “What now?”

“You can explore the convention hall,” Aelwyn suggested. “Or look for the rest of your Bad Kid friends.”

Ayda leaned down to Fig slightly. “Where  _ are _ they?”

Fig chuckled. “Gorgug was parking the van, the boys are with him. Kristen said she was taking the bus down with you guys,” she explained, glancing to Aelwyn, who nodded simply in confirmation. “I guess they’re stuck in line to sign in. Should we follow Adaine?”

Aelwyn shrugged. “Opening Announcements is mostly logistical information for contestants about how competitions will be conducted and judged. You can if you’d like, but there isn’t anything interesting for a guest to see there.”

“Huh. Okay. Let’s wander around, then.” Fig began to meander back towards the rows of tables in the main hall. Ayda trailed her closely; lacking somewhere better to be, Aelwyn followed as well, though slightly more standoffish.

“How did you know where to go and what time to be there?” Ayda asked, tilting her head and training her gaze on Aelwyn, who did not have a printed schedule of her own. 

Aelwyn looked straight ahead. “It’s not my first Bee.” A beat. “Oh, Fig, by the way, your mother says hi.”

The tiefling laughed. “Does she? Aw. Thanks.”


	6. Chapter 6

Perhaps twenty or twenty-five minutes later, Fig got a text on her crystal. “Adaine wants you to meet her in the front hall,” she read aloud, looking at Aelwyn. 

“Mm,” she responded, turning to go, though something about the action felt awkward and she hesitated.

“We’ll catch you later,” Fig continued, sending a quick reply on her crystal and pocketing it again. Aelwyn nodded succinctly and left, apparently satisfied with being formally dismissed.

“Why would Adaine not just text her sister directly?” Ayda asked her paramour.

“I don’t think she got her phone back from the police from last year yet. Or just gotten a new one.”

Ayda frowned. “Why would the police have her crystal?”

“Oh I guess you didn’t hear about all the details yet, huh?” Fig chuckled slightly and began to explain. “Last year when we were solving the whole Kalvaxus thing we kinda ran into Aelwyn at a house party and found out she was in on the whole scheme, so we kicked her ass and got her arrested.” She scratched her cheek in thought, wondering just what over the past year and a half of their lives would have gone differently if the outcome of that battle had gone another way. “And the police confiscated all the stuff she had with her, including her crystal. I don’t think we got that back yet.”

“I see,” Ayda said. “Solesians use their crystals a lot, I’ve noticed. I think it would be difficult to go without one after being accustomed to using them so much,” she mused.

Fig shrugged. “It’d be hard for  _ me, _ I know, but I dunno about her. She was gone a long time.”

Meanwhile, Aelwyn nimbly made her way to the main hall and met her sister right as the crowds of participating students were filing out of the auditorium after Opening. They had only a few minutes to disperse themselves through the building and find the rooms for their respective competitions, so Adaine hurried quickly over to her sister, already pulling things out of her backpack.

“What do you have first?” Aelwyn asked as Adaine shoved the bag into her awaiting arms and dug through it. 

“Written exams,” Adaine said, retrieving her pouch of pencils, pens, sharpener, and erasers, more than enough for redundancy’s sake. From within her backpack, Boggy ribbited cheerfully. 

“What all do you have that’s magical?” Aelwyn asked. Cradling her pencil pouch under one arm, Adaine began to unlatch her sword’s scabbard.

“Sword, frog, jacket, bracelet. Can you--?” Adaine answered. 

“I’ll hold on to everything,” Aelwyn assured her, taking the sword and tucking it under her shoulder. Adaine pulled her snap bracelet off and handed it over too just as the boys made it past check-in and noticed them.

“Yo!” Fabian called, spotting them and waving. “Adaine!” He and Gorgug made an effective wall of muscle to push through other eventgoers, while Riz was generally small and dextrous enough to duck around their legs; the three made their way over quickly, but Adaine had no time to spare. “We’re--”

“Sorry, I have to get to--” she interrupted him, already starting down the hall. “I’m done in 90! I’ll catch up later!” Once again, she turned and disappeared, dashing down the hall to whichever room she was assigned for her first competition.

“--here,” Fabian finished, pouting and lowering his hand. 

“Someone’s in an awful hurry,” Riz commented. 

Aelwyn watched her run off, snapping the mithral bracelet onto her wrist for safekeeping and tucking the sword in its scabbard under her arm. “First comps start at 10,” she explained simply. Gorgug checked the time on his crystal: 9:57. 

“We didn’t even get to say hi,” he said. 

“Should’ve parked the van quicker,” Fabian grumbled. Riz jabbed him in the side. “Ow.  _ Hey.” _

“It’s 90 minutes,” Aelwyn continued, sounding bored. “You can amuse yourselves for that long, I’m sure.”

“I guess,” Fabian exhaled, not particularly amused. 

“What is there to  _ do?” _ Riz asked, looking around the room with a squint.

“Well, you can explore the expo,” Aelwyn waved a hand towards the large hall where the rows of tables were set up and guests milled about animatedly. “There are usually vendors selling or trading magical items and the like.” 

“I’m gonna go find Fig and Ayda,” Gorgug said, checking his crystal again. The other two boys nodded and the half-orc walked off. 

“Do they have the prizes on display somewhere?” Fabian asked. “I wanna see what kind of shit Adaine’s gonna get when she wins.”

“If,” Riz corrected. Aelwyn and Fabian both scoffed, then made eye contact, then quickly looked away from each other.

“Erm, yes. I believe they’re just kept in the auditorium.” She began to walk, leading the way, while the two boys followed. 

She simply walked into auditorium A, where the competitors had just been for Opening. Some event organizers were up on the stage busy rearranging chairs, while another was on the floor in the front row of seating, adjusting the tablecloth on what would later become a judge’s table. He looked up, noticing the three enter, and furrowed his brow.

“Opening’s over, go to the rooms listed on your schedules,” he informed them.

“We’re not competing,” Fabian said. 

“Then what do you want? We’re setting up for the Bee. Go back to the expo.”

“We wanted to check out the prizes,” Riz explained. The man squinted at them, then glanced to Aelwyn, who looked like she was in charge, and raised an eyebrow at her.

She sighed. “I’m their babysitter. They just want to see the shinies.”

Both boys shot her a look of mixed embarrassment and disgust, but the man seemed either convinced or disinterested enough to let them be. “Whatever. Just don’t touch ‘em.” He went back to work, and Aelwyn led them over to the table, set up flush against the edge of the stage. 

“We’re literally 16,” Fabian hissed at her, scowling.

“Don’t be a baby; I got us in,” Aelwyn shot back at him, arching an eyebrow. He huffed but did not protest further. 

The three of them turned their attention back to the table. Arranged neatly on the black tablecloth were rows of sealed envelopes and medals; in the middle were two trophies, one small and one very grand and ornate, each with engraved plaques before them. “What are all the prizes for?” Fabian asked, glancing to Aelwyn, since she seemed to know everything there was to know about the Bee.

She folded her arms and maintained an air of boredom. “Top three winners for each competition gets a medal and a cash prize,” she explained. “There’s written exams and practicals. Senior levels have optional comps too in dueling and original spells. Junior awards are on the left,” she gestured with one hand to the left side of the table, which indeed had fewer prizes arranged on it. Riz studied them intently. “And senior awards on the right.”

“Junior’s for middle schoolers?” Fabian asked. Aelwyn nodded.

“Then there’s the Final Bee. Only top scorers from the preliminary events participate. You get up onstage and have to answer any question the judges throw at you. Make a mistake, you’re out. Last one standing wins.” She looked up from the table and at the stage, where the organizers were setting up the chairs for contestants later. “They host the Junior Bee in here in the afternoon and the Senior Bee in the evening after they finish.”

“Isn’t this, like, a big fucking deal?” Fabian asked. “Like, it’s a national competition. Isn’t it pretty big that Adaine made it?”

“Hardly any sophomores make it to nationals is what I heard,” Riz commented. Aelwyn shrugged. Fabian made a face.

“Why’re you so nonchalant about this?”

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a silly competition. Nothing worse than Adaine has seen before--” Aelwyn started.

“Wait, no way,” Riz interrupted, his eyes widening. He leaned on the table, bringing his face closer to the plaque sitting before the large trophy. While Fabian leaned down to see what he found, Aelwyn frowned and pulled back.

“What? What’d you find?” 

Riz turned around and trained his wide-eyed gaze on Aelwyn.  _ “You _ won the Senior Bee??” 

“You  _ what??” _ Fabian repeated, shooting her a confused look then squinting back at the plaque, which had engraved the names of all past senior spelling champions. The second most recent name was Aelwyn’s.

Aelwyn pursed her lips. “Yeah,” she admitted, clearly not having planned on flaunting the fact about today, but not bothering to refute it now that it was known either. “I used to be a Speller. It’s really not a big--”

“It’s abso _ lutely _ a big deal,” Fabian corrected. “God _ damn!  _ How’d you do?” He seemed now more excited about the whole Bee in general, knowing he knew a former champion. 

Aelwyn frowned and looked away. “Second in ninth grade and first in tenth, you can read the plaques yourselves.” She waved a hand dismissively, as if it wasn’t rare for sophomores to do so well, as if she hadn’t been the first freshman to place so highly. Riz scoffed, and she turned back, making a face. “What, are you surprised?” Though it was not really her intention, she couldn’t help but come off sounding a bit haughty. “Why do you think I was so keen on helping Adaine prepare? I of all people know what it takes to win,” she explained.

“Why do you think she didn’t want your help in the first place?” Riz countered sharply, tilting his head. “Where’s the challenge in it if someone gives you all the answers?”

“Well,” she huffed. “I didn’t; she insisted on studying on her own. And that’s fine; she’s a perfectly capable wizard on her own and has what it takes. Nor is it  _ her _ first Bee, either.” Fabian raised a brow at her. “She was a Junior Speller. Came second in seventh grade. She knows what she’s doing.”

“Wow,” Fabian said.

“Her name’s not on the plaques,” Riz pointed out. He did take note of Aewlyn’s name being present, from junior competitions several years ago.

“Only winners get their names on plaques,” Aelwyn countered.

“Second is still pretty damn good,” Fabian returned. Aelwyn shrugged again.

“It’s a lot better than you make it out to be,” Riz shot her a look, bordering on a glare. “You make it sound like you don’t give a shit one way or the other and so neither should anyone else.”

Aelwyn threw up her hands in exasperation and huffed. “So our parents forced us to compete. Is that somehow news to you?”

The boys made eye contact with each other. Neither knew the Message cantrip, but didn’t seem to need it to conduct whatever silent conversation they were having in that moment. Riz’s face was still firm, but Fabian’s had softened into a more sympathetic frown, and he lifted one arm to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. Aelwyn stayed silent, holding her arms to her chest with her sister’s sword tucked under one of them. She didn’t know what else to say, nor did she really feel like saying it, either. 

Cutting through the tension, Fabian’s crystal vibrated with a new message in his pocket. He pulled it out, his one good eye scanning the screen. “Gorgug found the girls,” he read aloud. “They’re in the Artificer’s Row, says they’ve got booths for Identifying magical items. Hey, you wanna get your cool heaven gun appraised?” He offered a grin to the goblin, who shrugged in return. “Well,  _ I _ wanna show off Fandrangor.”

Aelwyn motioned to the auditorium’s rear exits with her head. “I’ll show you around,” she offered. She started walking back out. The boys followed; Fabian shoved his hands in his pockets and moved to walk by her side, while Riz pushed past their legs and walked just ahead of them. The three left the auditorium and made their way back to the main expo hall. 

In the business of the crowd, Fabian nudged Aelwyn gently in the side. “Hey,” he said, loud enough to catch her attention, but quiet enough to be lost in the noise of the crowd. She glanced sideways at him. 

“Hm?”

“Thanks,” he started, looking ahead and speaking uncharacteristically gently. “For showing us around.”

“It’s nothing,” she replied, looking forward again herself.

“Nah, it’s something,” Fabian corrected her. A small smile played in the corners of his lips. “I get it. And I appreciate it.”


	7. Chapter 7

The main hall was a large room with tables set up in neat rows at which vendors displayed their wares, students showed off various projects they were working on, and magic users of all sorts could talk shop. Participants in the Bee not currently engaged in their competitions milled around, as did other noncompeting students, their chaperoning professors, parents, friends, and other eventgoers, ambling from table to table and checking out what there was to see. Artificer’s Row was the unofficial title bestowed upon the leftmost row of tables, which backed up to and line the wall of the hall, and where could be found most of the artificers and their related displays. Poking out above the crowds, Fabian and Aelwyn could just about make out Gorgug’s head and Ayda’s glowing winds about halfway down the row; they headed over, weaving through the other bodies in the aisle. 

“Yo,” Fabian greeted, catching the attention of Fig and Ayda; Gorgug was engaged in what seemed to be a fascinating conversation in Gnomish with one of the table vendors, and didn’t notice him just yet. 

Fig offered Fabian a hand and gave him a little slap-fist-bump in greeting. “How’s it goin’, Fabes?”

“‘S good. You know Aelwyn was a Spelling champion?” he answered, earning him an elbow in the side from the wizard. “Ow, _hey,_ ” he whined. 

She shot him a scowl. “Don’t make this about me,” she hissed. “It’s _not_ about me.”

“Nothing wrong with telling people,” he countered, hissing back. “It’s not showing off, it’s just _true.”_

Aelwyn still glared at him, grumpily, and made to argue further. Ayda and Fig were watching, though, and looked impressed. “No shit?” Fig said, raising her eyebrows. “That’s dope.”

“Adaine comes from quite the wizarding family, I see,” Ayda commented. 

Aelwyn looked away, waved a hand dismissively. “Sure, whatever. How is the expo this year?” she asked, quickly changing the subject and looking down the aisle at the tables of Artificer’s Row.

Fig nodded to Gorgug. The half-orc was engaged in conversation with the gnomish vendor, his sweatshirt tied around his waist instead of worn over his t shirt, given the season’s warm weather. “He’s having a blast,” she said with a grin. Hearing her, he glanced away from his conversation and noticed the boys and Aelwyn had joined them.

“Oh, hi,” he said, switching back to Common. “Am I holding you guys up? We can keep walking,” he offered. 

“Nah, it’s cool, buddy. What’re you talking about?” Fig asked. He had his heavy metal axe laid out on the table, the gnomish vendor looking over it excitedly. 

“My axe. She thinks it’s really cool. And I was telling her about the gnomes in Arborly who made it for me,” Gorgug explained. There was quite a number of gnomes in Artificer’s Row, with whom Gorgug seemed to immediately and fantastically get along. Wilma and Digby would be proud.

“Don’t let us interrupt you!” Fig assured him. “I think we’re gonna keep walking but we won’t go far, okay?”

Gorgug nodded. The other boys joined Fig and Ayda and continued a bit further down the row, while Gorgug returned to his conversation with the gnome. Aelwyn remained with him, casting a quick Comprehend Languages spell to listen in. 

“Quite the craftsmanship here, I’m impressed. You seem to know your way around gnomish crafts, eh, young man?” she heard the vendor saying once the spell took effect, running a hand along the flat of his axe’s blade and admiring it.

“Yeah, my parents are gnomes. I was adopted,” Gorgug continued. “I didn’t really get into artificing much until this year though. I had some help from the gnomes at the tinkerer’s hall in Arborly. We visited over spring break.”

“Arborly, eh?” the woman looked up, smiling kindly at Gorgug and Aelwyn. “My son was telling me about some video he watched filmed in Arborly about a month ago, from one of the bands he listens to, I can hardly keep track of them.”

“Oh! That was us!” Gorgug said, a little excited. Aelwyn looked at him sideways, curiously. “Fig and the Sig Figs?” he prompted.

“Yes, that’s it! My son listens to their albums a lot.”

“That’s us, I’m the drummer. We stopped in Arborly during spring break with our friends and had a bit of a party and livestreamed some of it.” He glanced to Aelwyn slightly as he explained, who was listening about as closely (though less excitedly) than the vendor. ”You were there, weren’t you?” he asked the elf.

“I think I was in the forest then,” she admitted quietly, shaking her head. Her memory still had its cracks, she didn't fully trust it anymore. “I didn’t know about this.”

“Oh.” Gorgug shrugged. “It was kind of dumb, but it was fun.”

“What a talented young man!” the gnome beamed and looked about ready to pinch his cheek in grandmotherly fondness. “An adventurer, an artificer, a rock star…”

“Fig’s the real rockstar,” Gorgug blushed. “I’m just the drummer.”

“How about you, young lady?” the gnome prompted, smiling at Aelwyn. She blinked and frowned, not expecting to be addressed.

“I’m sorry?”

“Are you in the band as well?”

“Oh, no, no,” Aelwyn shook her head, sheepishly. “No. I’m just a wizard.”

“Oh! Are you competing today, deary?”

“No, not this year.”

“You know, there’s no harm in trying it out,” the gnome assured her kindly. “It’s okay to be nervous. I’m sure you’ll do better than you expect.”

“Oh, Aelwyn’s a great wizard,” Gorgug said. Aelwyn blinked. “I think Adaine said you used to compete too, is that right?” She began to nod sheepishly.

“Aelwyn?” repeated another voice from nearby. It was not one of the Bad Kids, though it did sound familiar to her. She whipped her head around, eyes quickly scanning to find who had called her name. Her fingers instinctively curled around the scabbard of her sister’s sword, still tucked under her arm.

“Aelwyn Abernant!” the voice repeated excitedly. She turned and spotted to whom it belonged, blanching. On the other side of the aisle, set up at another table, was a research presentation prepared by artificer students from Hudol College. A couple of students in their familiar blue uniforms sat somewhat boredly behind the table whispering to each other, along with their professor, an older dwarven man. He waved at her, smiling with crinkled eyes behind thick glasses. “My, who would have guessed? It’s good to see you again, dear!”

Quickly saying a thank you to the vendor woman, Gorgug took his axe back and turned to Aelwyn, leaning in to ask, “Who’s that?”

“An old teacher of mine,” Aelwyn answered, blanching. She’d already made eye contact; there was no way now to pretend she hadn’t noticed and slip away. 

“Oh,” Gorgug said, standing back up. Aelwyn swallowed the lump in her throat and walked over; he trailed.

“Hello, Professor,” she greeted, offering him her hand to shake, politely and formally. He took it and shook it warmly, smiling.

“Aelwyn, it’s so good to see you again,” he repeated, brimming with warmth. He offered his hand next to Gorgug. “Donnelly Wyrmwood,” he introduced himself. “Professor of artificing at Hudol College.”

“Gorgug Thistlespring,” the half-orc responded. “Um, artificing student at Aguefort. Sort of. I’m, uh, new to it. How do you know Aelwyn?”

“Aelwyn took one of my electives two years ago,” he explained, resettling his smile on the wizard. She looked like she was almost trying to retreat into her flannel to hide. She could feel herself sweating; was it so uncomfortably hot in here for everyone, or just her? “A wonderful student to teach. Top marks, as always. How have you been, dear? I haven’t heard from you since you left Hudol last spring.” Some of the students looked up at her, their wondering why she left obvious on their faces.

Aelwyn avoided eye contact, feeling more nervous than she’d felt in weeks. “I’m doing alright, Professor,” she answered quietly. 

“Are you competing again this year?” he asked. Turning aside to his students, he added, “Aelwyn Abernant was a champion Speller her sophomore year.” A few of them looked less bored and even somewhat impressed to hear this, which only turned more eyes on the wizard, who fought a blush. 

“No, Professor, not this year. I’m here for my sister.”

“Sister?” one of the students asked, tilting their head. After a second, his eyes widened in recognition and he sat forward. “Are you Adaine’s sister?” Aelwyn pursed her lips and nodded. The student laughed.

“What? Who’s that?” the girl beside him asked.

“We used to be classmates. She went to Hudol in middle school but got kicked out for failing the upper school exam,” he snorted.

Aelwyn’s brow furrowed, displeased. “She had a panic attack and transferred to Aguefort,” she corrected, defending her sister now as she felt she should have years ago. “And she’s top of her class, now. Competing in the Bee today only as a sophomore.” She did manage to shut up the student’s snickering, and felt at least slightly satisfied at that.

“Good for her,” Professor Wyrmwood added sincerely, nodding. “I’m glad to hear she’s doing well; she seemed like such a promising young student.”

“She is,” Aelwyn agreed, earnestly. “She’s really blossoming at Aguefort.”

“And you, Aelwyn? What are you up to these days?” He continued. She frowned again. “You must have graduated by now, hm? I don’t believe I heard from you after…” He trailed off thoughtfully. One or two of the students looked curious and confused, while Aelwyn looked visibly uncomfortable. “...Well, we can catch up later,” he redirected, waving a hand and giving her a wink. She was relieved to not have to relive the past eighteen months of her life again, at least not right now. 

“Did he say her name was Abernant?” another one of the students asked, whispering to the boy beside her. 

“Yes,” Aelwyn answered, pointedly letting her know she’d been heard.

Unperturbed, the girl sat up. “So you know what happened to Professor Abernant?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and looking directly at Aelwyn, whose cheeks grew hot.

“Isn’t that your--” Gorgug leaned in to ask her, whispering in her ear. Aelwyn nodded tightly and pursed her lips.

“She’s on sabbatical,” Aelwyn answered curtly.

“When’s she coming back?” she asked. “She was a good teacher. Tough, but good.” Her classmates nodded in agreement. Aelwyn bristled.

“I don’t think she’s coming back anytime soon,” Gorgug answered, stepping in for Aelwyn. He put his hand on her back gently to try and reassure her. 

The student raised an eyebrow at him. “How would you know?” 

“She’s doing some field research stuff in Sylvaire. We visited over spring break. She didn’t seem like she was going to be wrapping up and leaving anytime soon."

“I heard she got sent back to Fallinel and arrested--” the first student leaned in and whispered to the girl beside him, gossipping. Aelwyn lurched slightly forward, teeth gritted, magic tingling in her fingertips, but Gorgug grabbed onto the fabric of her flannel and held her back, staying calm and surreptitious the whole time. 

“Students, you have other visitors,” Professor Wyrmwood reminded them pointedly, sweeping a look over them and subtly motioning to other eventgoers who had wandered over to the table. The students scrambled slightly to sit up and follow their teacher’s instructions, greeting the newcomers and setting to explain their project. Professor Wyrmwood returned to smile gently again at Aelwyn. “No worries,” he said with another wink. Aelwyn exhaled, relaxing slightly, fingers uncurling from their fists. Gorgug loosened his grip on her flannel, but kept his hand on her back, for the sake of comfort and an abundance of caution. “We can catch up another time, later today. Somewhere quieter, if you’d like.” 

Aelwyn nodded stiffly again, still frowning. Either unwilling or unable to formally say no. It was not that she didn’t like Donnelly Wyrmwood; in fact, she had been rather fond of him. Of the professors at Hudol she could remember, he had the reputation of being one of the most kind and personable professors you could have the fortune of getting as a teacher, a quality that was lost neither on Aelwyn nor the rest of the student body in a prep school so laser-focused on grades and achievement. But it didn’t feel right to her, not today, not anymore, not after she’d left the school in a hurried, disgraceful mystery. She didn’t want to talk about her mother and pretend that things weren’t as bad as they were, as they always had been. Donnelly Wyrmwood’s eyes were kind and his hands calloused yet soft and comforting, but Aelwyn wasn’t interested today.

She felt Gorgug’s hand press gently but firmly against her back, quietly urging her to keep walking and move on from the Hudol students’ presentation table. “Thank you,” Gorgug said to the professor. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too, young man,” Professor Wyrmwood nodded. Aelwyn and Gorgug began to turn and walk away when he added, “Oh, and Aelwyn?”

“Yes, Professor?” She stopped in her tracks and turned back. 

“Professor Nowelle is here today as well. She’s helping to grade the written exams, and on the panel to evaluate the original spells submissions, but when she has a free moment I’m sure she would love to say hello.”

With his hand on her back, Gorgug felt Aelwyn take a quiet deep breath and let it out. She nodded again.

“Splendid, I’ll let her know you’re here. Enjoy the Bee, and please, tell your sister I wish her luck!”

The pair left the table, walking down Artificer’s Row together. Gorgug’s somewhat imposing physical presence made a convenient tool for parting the crowds. Aelwyn stayed quiet, eyes trained forward, frown on her lips. Gorgug took notice.

“Hey,” he said. “Are you okay? I know we’re not, like, really close or anything, but that seemed kind of...uncomfy for you. Are you alright?”

Aelwyn paused in her tracks and thought about this. Gorgug stopped too, and waited patiently for her to figure out her answer. “...No. I don’t think so,” she finally answered. 

“Can I do anything?” he offered, sounding concerned. “Maybe...I dunno. Maybe you can go outside and take a break for a bit? Get some fresh air? It’s really warm in here.”

She held her head and sighed. “...Okay. Yeah. I’ll...go take a walk, I think,” she said, nodding. 

“I can take some of that stuff if you want,” he offered. She handed him the sword, shrugged off the backpack, slipped the bracelet from her wrist. “I can probably beat those guys up later too if they give you any more trouble, if you want.” She let out a hollow laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter goes out to my high school chemistry teacher. shoutout mrs k. you were the best


	8. Chapter 8

At 11:31 am precisely, Adaine, the rest of the Aguefort spellers, and every other student in the first round of exams spilled out of their testing room, sighing in relief. Zayn caught the young Oracle’s eye.

“What was up with question 66?” Zayn asked, eliciting a laugh from her. 

“Gods, what the _fuck_ was that?” she agreed. “They really threw in a question about _Feeblemind??”_

“As if any high schooler would know that spell yet,” Zayn scoffed. “That’s some real high-level professional shit. What’d you guess? I put 60 feet.”

“I put 150, I don’t know if that’s right or not,” Adaine shook her head, slipping her crystal from her pocket and shooting a text to one of the Bad Kids. 

“What do you have next?” 

“I was going to sign up for dueling at 12:30,” she said. “I’m not scheduled at practicals until last period.”

Zayn nodded. “I have practicals next. Are you submitting any original spells?”

Adaine looked up and exhaled sharply. “I was thinking about it, but I’m not sure. I don’t know what…” she trailed off, squinting at nothing in particular in thought. She glanced down at her phone again, getting a response. “...I should talk to Ayda. See you ‘round?” she said, looking back to him, already bouncing between the balls of her feet with nervous energy. Zayn nodded and waved her off. Adaine darted once again through the halls of the convention center, heading back to the main expo hall.

Admittedly not quite as nimble, fast, or physically imposing as some of her friends, she eventually found the bulk of them wandering together through the crowds and tables of vendors and project displays, even if she did accidentally bump into a few people in the process. “I’m here,” she announced as she approached, huffing and bent over to catch her breath. 

“Hi Adaine,” Gorgug was the first to greet her when she arrived. Fabian, Fig, and Ayda all nodded and said their hellos as well.

“Heya,” Kristen greeted, smiling to the wizard. She and Tracker had found and met up with the group while Adaine had been in exams. “Are you done already?”

“Not done,” Adaine shook her head, then had to pause to brush the hair back from her face and adjust her glasses. She stood up straight and squinted, taking them off to wipe away some smudges on the lenses with her shirt. “Just the written exams.”

“How’d you do?” Tracker asked.

“Probably aced it,” Fabian scoffed. “Adaine always aces tests.”

“I dunno,” Adaine answered, replacing her glasses. “There were some really tough questions on the free-response section.” 

“I mean, if they were hard for _you,_ it was probably next to _impossible_ for everyone else,” Fabian commented.

“What are the exams like?” Ayda asked, tilting her head in curiosity. 

“There’s a multiple choice section. They give you a bunch of questions about arcana and spells and components and stuff like that and you pick the answers from choices they give you. Then there’s free-response, where they just give you questions and you have to come up with an answer on your own and explain it. Then there’s a few team questions at the end, where you and the other spellers from your school can work together to figure them out.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “The team questions couldn’t have _been_ any easier,” she added. “Which just makes me nervous. I think we missed something.”

“Nah, you’re probably just _too_ good,” Fig said, grinning. Adaine made a face. “I mean it! We’ve saved the world how many times already? You’ve got more field experience than a lot of other wizards your age.” Adaine did have to admit she had a point. “Okay,” Fig continued, clapping her hands and rubbing them together. “What’s next on the schedule?” 

“I want to sign up for dueling,” Adaine said. “My practicals are last so if I get it over with now I can rest enough to get back a couple of spell slots before then. Where’s Aelwyn?” 

The girls exchanged looks and shrugs. “I dunno.” Adaine felt her nerves setting back in. 

“Oh,” Gorgug chimed in, before she could get too worked up. “Aelwyn said she was going to take a walk. I think she went outside for some air. Maybe she went to go find Riz?” The goblin, Adaine only now noticed, was not present with the group. She furrowed her brow.

“I need to see her,” Adaine said. “She’s got--”

“Oh, we have your stuff,” Fig finished her thought for her, holding up and shaking her fist to show off the mithral bracelet. Fabian also held up her sword, and Kristen her backpack and jacket. The bracelet had a small purple tag on it, while the sword had an orange one. “Gorgug said that Aelwyn said you’d need these looked at by the judges before you could use them, so we got that done for you while you were busy.”

Adaine exhaled, letting her shoulders relax. She took the bracelet and sword, putting each back in its proper place, and examined the tags. Kristen held her backpack out; she put her pencil case back in, swapping it out to hold her familiar instead for reassurance. “Thanks,” Adaine said, feeling much more secure now with her bracelet, focus, and frog back, though not yet totally at ease. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. 

“What’s up? You look like you’re stuck on something,” Kristen noticed, tilting her head a little. Adaine pursed her lips.

“I feel like there was _something_ else I needed to do before the duels,” she said, making a face. Her mind was a jumble trying to keep track of everything and not freak out from stress today; she knew she needed to ask _someone_ about _something,_ but the details seem to have been momentarily misplaced. 

“Adaine Abernant,” she heard a snooty voice say from behind her. “In the flesh. Who’d have thought we’d see _you_ of all people here?” he scoffed.

Adaine whirled around to see a stuck-up looking half-elf boy and a small posse of two or three companions, all looking prim and proper in their Hudol uniforms. She scowled at them.

“Who the hell are you?” Fig asked, folding her arms. She already didn’t like their attitude, or the way they looked at her friend like she was a spider under their expensive little heels.

“Beau Pemberton,” Adaine returned, practically growling at him.

“Hey, you’re those kids from Artificer’s Row,” Gorgug recognized and pointed out. “You used to be classmates, right?” 

Adaine exhaled, nodding to Gorgug’s question and squinted at the Hudol students. “To what do I owe the displeasure of seeing your ugly mug again, Beau?”

“The Bee must’ve really slackened its requirements for entrants this year, if _you_ made it to nationals,” he scoffed, smirking to his compatriots, some of whom snickered along. “I know you have a bit of a _history_ when it comes to _entrance exams,_ of course.”

“I have a _history_ with other things, too. I’d be _happy_ to give you a free lesson, since you seem to be _asking_ for one,” she spat back, thrusting a hand back to give Boggy to someone else to hold. Tracker took the frog while Adaine’s other hand went to the hilt of her sword.

“Oh yes, lots of history,” Beau agreed, narrowing his eyes and folding his arms. “Family history too. Wasn’t your sister a champion?”

“And Professor Abernant used to judge,” one of his classmates, a halfling girl, chimed in. "Where is she now, anyway?"

“We’ve already been over this,” Gorgug said, frowning unkindly at them. 

“That’s not any of your goddamn concern,” Adaine jabbed. 

“Adaine’s being here has fuck all to do with her family and everything to do with her being a great wizard,” Fig stepped in, pissed off and defensive of her friend. _“Clearly_ better than _you,_ since _she’s_ competing and _you’re_ giving project demos to randos in a convention hall.”

Beau scoffed again, obnoxious and rude. “I’m not competing because I didn’t _want_ to. _And_ I’m multi-class. How _boring_ is it to _just_ be a wizard these days, hm?” He raised an eyebrow at Adaine, who glaring at him so fiercely he was lucky looks alone couldn’t kill. “You’re what, just a simple diviner, then, hm? Go back to your crystal ball already, darling, you’re a dime a dozen here, you’ll never win.”

“I think you’d do better to leave the predictions to me,” Adaine growled. 

“It takes more than the written exam to win, Adaine.” Beau clicked his tongue. “As if a diviner is ever any good in practicals.”

“Maybe you’d like to find out for yourself just how _practical_ I can be.”

In a fluid motion, Adaine lunged forward at him and drew the Sword of Sight. On reflex Gorgug grabbed the back of her jacket and held her back from striking, but she could still reach out enough to point the tip of the blade directly at Beau’s throat, inches away. She could hear Fig give a quiet “ooh, get ‘em, girl!” from behind her, but stayed still glaring daggers at the half-elf boy. Startled, his eyes went wide and he stumbled backwards, as did his fellow Hudol students. 

“A sword,” he said, coughing slightly, trying (rather unsuccessfully) to hide that she’d managed to rattle him. “How _gauche._ Is that how they teach you to behave over at Aguefort? I’d have _hoped_ you’d at least use a _spell_ to threaten me.”

“It’s an arcane focus, dipshit,” Adaine shot back. A faint glow of arcana shimmered around the sword, and it thrummed with potential. “I’ll _show_ you an _original spell_ if that’s what you _want.”_ Her free hand gleamed with silvery light. Beau leaned back a little more, worry creeping into his eye.

“Where did she get that?” One of the Hudol girls whispered. They all had various unnerved looks about them.

Stubbornly (and stupidly), Beau tried to scoff yet again. “I’d like to see you try--”

Adaine roared and swung her fist at him. Genuine, rattled fear took hold in his face, and he threw up a Shield spell -- just in time for Adaine’s fist to stop, mid-air, barely coming close to a collision as Gorgug’s hand balled up the fabric of her jacket and yanked her away. Growling, rage beginning to burn behind his eyes, he pulled the elf roughly back, stepped forward in front of her like a giant living wall.

“Woah!” “Hey!” “Adaine!” The Bad Kids exclaimed. Kristen narrowly avoided being knocked over by Adaine, who stumbled backwards into the group of Bad Kids with a grunt. Fabian caught her and grabbed her by the arms, holding on in case she tried to lunge forward again.

“What the _hell!?”_ Beau sputtered, backed up by his fellow classmates. If any of them had been ready to fight back, Gorgug’s imposing presence and huge, humming axe made them think twice. 

“I _told_ you to knock it off already,” Gorgug growled.

“Oh, don’t be so _shocked_ that the _adventurer_ takes a shot at you when you’re _begging_ her for a fight,” Fig spat back at him. 

“I’m not entirely familiar with how these events work,” Ayda added very simply, leaning down to Adaine. “But it seems likely that killing another child would be frowned upon here.”

“Yeah,” Adaine huffed, still glaring intently at Beau but reeling back her ire. She shrugged Fabian away, sheathed her sword, and let the arcana dissipate from her hand. “That’s grounds for disqualification.”

“Lucky you.” Fig smirked at the boy.

“You wanna see what I’ve got? Go save yourself a fucking seat in the Great Hall. I’ll be there at 12:30,” Adaine challenged him, scowling in confidence and hate. 

Beau Pemberton pursed his lips at her, scowled, and turned to retreat. His posse followed, throwing glances back their way as they went. 

“Huh,” Kristen said after a beat. “What’s _his_ deal?”

“That snotty little fuck has had it out for me since sixth grade. Gods know why,” Adaine explained, furrowing her brow. 

“Well, if _you_ can’t beat him up today, you want _us_ to?” Fig offered. Adaine chuckled hollowly, still frowning.

“No, it’s fine.”

“What’s in the Great Hall?” Gorgug asked, putting his axe away once again. His rage was entirely gone again, and he turned back to the group his usual, mild-mannered self.

“That’s where they host the duels. Guests are allowed to watch from an audience section.” It was actually one of the main attractions of the event for nonparticipants. Suddenly reminded of something, Adaine’s eyes widened. “Shit!” she exclaimed, waving her hands about in energy. “I still need to sign up! And--” she cut herself off, growling in frustration. “Gods, okay. Can you help me find my sister?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im just combining bits i remember from math team comps and AP exams as i go at this point
> 
> also is it really a high school experience if your school didn't have a rival school, and you and your classmates didn't despise everyone who went to your rival school for literally no reason other than their going to that other school? no? okay maybe that was also just me


	9. Chapter 9

Riz had stolen away from the group as they wandered through the expo hall. Fabian had been talking about getting their weapons identified and appraised by the event vendors (in other words, he wanted to show off their adventuring kit); while the others had been more or less excited by the idea, Riz just wasn’t interested, thanks. 

He’d wandered a little on his own, but little really caught his eye. He found he wasn’t in much mood to talk to strangers, either. It occurred to him just how far he’d come from the bright-eyed fourteen-year-old goblin he used to be, grinning and handing out business cards to anyone who’d take them. Now the pistol on his hip felt at once like a reminder, a talisman, a promise, a weight.

He slipped outside. It was quieter here, if not much cooler. There wasn’t the body heat of the crowd, but there was the bright late-spring sun, burning down from a cloudless blue sky and reflecting off the mirrored glass and silvered metal of Bastion City’s great skyscrapers. Suffice it to say, it was hot, and underneath his business formal attire, the goblin was sweating. 

He decided to go for a stroll around the convention center; not quite ‘casing the joint like a German shepherd,’ as Fig would say, but not exactly a leisurely stroll through the park, either. Instincts are instincts, and old habits die harder than bodies do, as it turned out. His eyes and ears were as open as ever for...not really  _ clues, _ he had to admit, but anything that struck him as out-of-the-ordinary, worrisome, suspicious. The investigation turned up nothing but some discarded cigarette butts and old gum ground into the pavement.

Going back through the building, he found a courtyard of sorts with a door to it from the hallway leading past the auditorium to the competition rooms. There were some steps, maybe for bleacher-like seating for outdoor presentations or for folks to arrange themselves on when posing for group photos together, but the space was more or less entirely vacant, save for some garbage cans lined against the wall on the far side. 

Quiet, empty, but not fair from the main event if anything were to happen; it was about as perfect a place to sit around for a while, Riz figured. He pushed through the door and walked into the courtyard, taking a place on the steps to take a seat. He set down his briefcase, took off his hat, combed his fingers through his hair. Rolled his sleeves up to the elbows, undid the first few buttons of his shirt and opened up the collar. Sighed into the heat of the day and relative silence and peace of the moment. 


	10. Chapter 10

Aelwyn kept her head down and wove through the crowd. She went so far as to cast an Invisibility spell on herself to avoid being noticed again. Unlike the Bad Kids and the rest of their posse, she moved with direction and purpose, no wandering or ambling or milling about. She knew her way around this building, where she wanted to go, and how to get there.

Leaving the main expo, she moved down the hall, past the auditoriums and competition rooms, and through a door. Sunlight warmed her face as she stepped outside into the courtyard. This was where she would always come between competitions when she was a Speller herself, to catch her breath, to catch up on last-minute studying, to catch a much-needed break. She could never figure out why more people didn’t. It was quiet, mostly secure, reasonably comfy, with plenty of space, plus sunlight and fresh air -- a far cry from the stuffiness and business within the building. (Not that she was complaining, of course; the fact that it  _ was _ so depopulated was probably the best thing about it.)

She noticed a moment later that she wasn’t alone when her Invisibility wore off; she was halfway through removing her flannel to cool off. She sighed.

“You can put the gun away, Gukgak, it’s just me.” 

He hadn’t pulled the pistol out completely yet, but his hand was poised on its handle at his hip and his eyes trained directly at her (well, really around the door, which had to him seemed to open entirely on its own until her spell dissipated). The pair made eye contact from across the courtyard. They were both frowning, and mostly still. Aelwyn watched him relax, but only slightly; his fingers loosened but stayed close to his weapon. She pulled her flannel back on, choosing to roll the sleeves up to her elbows instead of remove it fully.

“What do you want?” Riz asked after a beat, breaking the silence. 

“Nothing in particular,” Aelwyn answered.

“Why are you here?”

“I presume for the same reason as you.” Another awkward quiet fell over the courtyard. “...May I join you?” He held for a beat, then nodded and looked away. It was as good an invitation as she was going to get, so she took it and walked over to the steps, taking a seat a row up and a little ways over from him, not too close.

Riz’s firm expression softened, if ever-so-slightly. Maybe somebody else wouldn’t have picked up on it, but Aelwyn did. She hadn’t spent eighteen years in the household she’d grown up in to not have learned how to pick up on things by now. She picked up on the way his collar was pulled loose and open, how he didn’t wear ties much anymore. She picked up on the way his nails were jagged, the skin around his cuticles slightly raw. She picked up on the way his fingers tensed and eased, the way he returned his hands to his lap, off the gun, then busied themselves by grabbing, opening, and sorting through his briefcase. 

(Of course, Aelwyn was not the only one who was good at noticing things. Riz of course had noticed the way she pulled her flannel close over her shoulders, even though it was far too warm for it, when he’d spotted her. Riz noticed how her hand always seemed to hover at rest around her spellbook. Riz noticed the distant look in her eyes she’d get sometimes when trying to remember things. Riz noticed.)

“What do you have there?” she asked, again breaking a silence, leaning forward a little to see what he was sorting in his briefcase. He glanced over his shoulder back at her, then returned to his work.

“Nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.”

“It’s just some tools and ammo and stuff,” he said dismissively, guarded. Peering over his shoulder Aelwyn could indeed spy inside thieves’ tools and various bullets and darts, as well as little cards with golden script on them, first aid supplies, various scraps of paper and notes, a necktie. It didn’t seem like she could see everything that was in there; she reasoned it must be some kind of bag of holding.

“A lot of ammo,” she commented. Not the same bullets he’d shot at her back at that house party, not the same weapon. He grunted by way of response. She cleared her throat quietly, trying somehow to make the conversation less tedious and tense. “For that new gun of yours, right? It looks fancy. You should get it identified at the expo. There are magic weapons specialists who can tell you about it, its properties, where it’s from--”

“No thanks,” he replied curtly. “I know where it’s from.” His statement left a weight in the air that Aelwyn needed no Comprehend Subtext to understand. 

“I believe your friends are getting all their weapons checked out right now,” she continued. She wasn’t entirely sure why she bothered, and yet.

“Good for them.”

Aelwyn exhaled. “Awful lot of weapons, you lot carry around.”

“We’re adventurers.”

“You aren’t on an adventurer now, are you?”

“You never know,” Riz said, sniffing pointedly, “when something's going to come up.” He stared forward at the wall across the courtyard, with windows into the hallway of the convention center and the trash cans lined up on the pavement. “It’s better to be prepared.”

“You don’t really think something’s going to  _ happen, _ do you?” Aelwyn asked, scoffing slightly. He turned and shot her a look.“It’s the Bee, not a battle--”

“You don’t think one’s gonna happen at a house party either,” he cut her off. “It’s better to be prepared,” he repeated firmly, a no-nonsense glint in his eye.

She narrowed her eyes and leaned back a little, sitting up straighter. “And always live every moment on edge?”

Riz snorted. “Like you’re one to talk--” 

Both were startled, interrupted by a sudden clashing sound across the courtyard. Aelwyn went to her feet, Riz went for his gun, both whipping their heads around to see who was there. 

The noise had come from the lid of one of the trash cans fell and clattered on the ground, pushed over by a black cat rooting around in the garbage. Stock-still and silent, the two stood and stared at the cat. Totally undisturbed, the cat regarded them for a moment, blinked its big green eyes, yawned, stretched in the sunlight, hopped down from the trash can, and wandered off. 

Riz slowly lowered his pistol, Aelwyn dissipated the magic tingling at the tips of her fingers. They barely breathed. After a moment, Riz glanced back at the wizard and they shared a look. Not quite trusting, but noticing, understanding. 

They sighed. The goblin returned his gun to its holster. Aelwyn sat back down, looking and feeling solemn. Riz turned his attention back to his briefcase, but it seemed disheartened and distracted again. Neither were in the mood to talk, and both could tell that about the other, but neither were either of them comfortable sitting in that silence and tension they’d just created.

“...Do you play chess at all, Riz?” Aelwyn finally broke the silence after a long quiet. The goblin looked up and back at her, shrugging. “You wouldn’t happen to have a board in that briefcase of yours, would you?” 

He blinked and thought about this, returning to rummage through the briefcase. It certainly wouldn’t be the weirdest thing he’d carried around in there. Sure enough, after a moment of searching, he produced a checkerboard from the briefcase, followed by a handful of white and black pieces. 

“You want to play?” he asked. Latching his briefcase, he looked up to find she had moved down a step to sit beside him, and was already busy setting up the pieces in their proper places on the board. Finishing, she swiveled it around so the white pieces were lined up in front of Riz. 

“Your turn to start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aelwyn and riz, seeing a black cat: [handshake meme] same trauma
> 
> edit (as of 11/16): i've been updating this at a breakneck pace since i've started posting chapters (10 in like 5 days, jeez louise) but idk how long this is gonna end up being when it's done and idk when i'm gonna have the time to keep writing it in the upcoming days/weeks! i'm definitely _gonna_ keep working on it, don't you worry, but it might be a lil longer between chapters than it has been, so if you're sticking with me tysm for your patience and continued interest and i hope you enjoy!! <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know this took a while but to make up for it i'm giving you three chapters at once, and the next one is loooong. i hope you enjoy reading and thank you for being patient!!

“Aelwyn!” the young elf exclaimed, bursting through the door into the courtyard. Following quickly behind came her posse of Bad Kids, all pushing through each other to the outside, about half of them groaning at the heat of the midday sun.

The older elf and the goblin looked up at the commotion. “Little sister,” Aelwyn greeted casually, idly wiggling a white chess piece between her fingers. “Welcome to the courtyard.”

“We’ve been looking  _ everywhere _ for you,” Adaine continued, catching her breath. It seemed like she’d been rushing around up until now. “Where have you  _ been?” _ Aelwyn gestured lazily around them, indicating the courtyard, with the chess piece in hand, one of Riz’s knights she’d captured a few moves back. 

“I’m playing a bit of chess with your good friend Riz here.” The goblin in question finished his deliberation and moved his rook to capture a black pawn on the opposite end of the board.

“Check,” he mumbled. Aelwyn flicked her wrist and used a Mage Hand cantrip to take the rook with her queen, earning a grumble from the goblin.

Adaine whined. “A little heads up would’ve been  _ nice.” _

The older sister chuckled. “You didn’t burn a spell slot on Locate Creature just to find me, did you?” 

“No,” Adaine huffed.

“I did,” Ayda corrected. Adaine’s ears flattened in mild embarrassment as Aelwyn chuckled again.

“Well, you found me,” Aelwyn said, rolling her head, stretching out her neck. She had one leg propped up on the steps and an arm leaned over it, glowing in the sun. “Congratulations. Is there something you need?” She looked back over at her sister with an easygoing air, genuine but respectfully distant. In the past it would have been condescending, but both girls were getting used to this new attitude of hers, the unfamiliarity of familial kindness. Adaine knew there was no animosity in Aelwyn’s offer, but frowned worriedly anyway. “Don’t tell me you’re nervous for duels,” Aelwyn continued, reading her sister’s expression. 

“I mean,” Adaine muttered, making a face and removing her Aguefort jacket. She exhaled and fanned her face -- far too warm outside for long sleeves today. Ayda took the jacket to hold, Fig smoking a clove at her side in her signature leather. Riz, looking up from the chess board and watching them, scoffed and adjusted his rolled up sleeves. Unfair that archdevil and the half-phoenix could tolerate this weather while the rest of them were sweating like Kristen in the cathedral of Helio back in freshman year. 

“Oh, come on.” Aelwyn exhaled and leaned forward, moving one of her pieces on the board. “Check. You  _ know _ how to fight. You’re not going to lose.”

“I don’t fight  _ alone, _ though,” Adaine said, gesturing with her hands in an attempt to let out some of her nerves. “I fight with my party.”

“Sure you do. You took out Father all on your own.”

“That’s different,” Adaine countered, anxious. Her hands moved in the air before her. “Father tried to--” Aelwyn raised an eyebrow and Adaine cut herself off with a frustrated growl. “Father was a shit practical caster, anyway.”

Fig laughed. “Didn’t you one-shot him?” Both sisters nodded. 

“Precisely. Just go in there and do that again,” Aelwyn said, waving a hand. 

“Rrgh, no. Duelers can prepare for a swing like that. You were a dueler; what should I do?” Adaine asked.

“I just told you. Go in there and throw a punch.”

“I’m not going to go into a fight swinging my fist around.”

“Why not? Nothing’s ever stopped you before.” 

“It’s never  _ worked out  _ before.”

“Sure it has,” Aelwyn said. Meeting her sister’s eye, she could tell Adaine was still too wrapped up in her own head to trust her gut. Sighing, a smirk played at Aelwyn’s lips. “You know, my memory’s still a little spotty sometimes,” she said, standing. Riz looked up from their game, furrowing a brow. Aelwyn stepped forward, away from the steps a little, and began peeling off her flannel. “Perhaps you can help me fill in the gaps.”

About half the assembled Bad Kids looked confused as to what she was going for, while the other half chuckled or groaned in recognition and amusement. 


	12. Chapter 12

“Aelwyn,” Adaine heaved.

“No, please, little sister, it has been escaping me all morning,” Aelwyn continued, gesturing loosely around her head with one hand, unable to keep from smirking. She fully removed her flannel now and tied it around her waist, feeling the sun and warm air on her bare arms and shoulders for the first time in a long while. “We were at that party at your little friend’s house. What was her name again?” she prompted.

“Ostentatia Wallace?” Gorgug filled in. Aelwyn snapped her fingers in recognition.

“Right, that was it. It was Ostentatia’s little shindig. And we went upstairs for a bit, just her and I. She was standing,” Aelwyn glanced around mischievously, holding her hands out a bit. Turning, she stopped and pointed with a grin at Tracker, who stood with Kristen near the center of the courtyard. “Right about there. We were  _ gossipping, _ and I asked her if she was--”

_ “Aelwyn,”  _ Adaine whined again, embarrassed and still nervous, although she could not deny herself getting at least a little swept up in the scenario. Her sister laughed and continued.

“--and I simply  _ had _ to make sure she was telling the  _ truth, _ so I cast a little spell--”

“Why don’t you give us a demonstration?” Kristen prompted. She met Aelwyn’s eye and they exchanged shit-eating grins with one another while Tracker blushed, elbowing her girlfriend in the side. “Ow. Babe,” Kristen laughed.

“--and then  _ somebody _ burst into the room, just as I tucked the girl away for safekeeping.” Aelwyn held up the chess piece like a crystal in Tracker’s direction. “What was it you said again when you broke down that door?”

“You fucking  _ cunt,” _ Adaine filled in, laughing herself and stepping forward.

“Riz, I do believe you were over here at this point,” Aelwyn said, pocketing the chess piece and looking back to the goblin, tracing a path for him to follow with a pointed finger through the air.

“And you sliced me with a magic dagger,” he scoffed, sitting up and raising a brow at her. She repeated her gesture and he rolled his eyes, pulling himself to his feet and moving to where she pointed out. She mimed reaching out and slashing him with a knife as he passed her. He stumbled in surprise, reaching his destination and instinctively taking a battle-ready stance when he got there. “So I pulled out my gun,” he continued, maintaining a solid eye contact with the elf, getting a bead on the game she was now playing at. Instead of his actual weapon, he lifted one arm and pointed a clawed finger at her, steadying his arm with his other hand as though aiming a pistol. “And I shot,” He mimed pulling the trigger, biting back an all-out grin. Kristen off to the side interjected a  _ “pew!” _ for sound effect. “But your stupid abjuration magic got in the way,” he finished, as Aelwyn swatted the imaginary bullet right out of the air. 

“So I send a little Firebolt your way,” She mimed flinging another spell at Riz, and, now fully playing along, he mimed being hit by it. He groaned, dramatically clutched his shoulder, and staggered backwards. The Bad Kids laughed along with the show; Tracker and Ayda watched with fascination, unfamiliar with the battle or its outcome, while the rest of the Bad Kids proper seemed to arrange themselves around the courtyard as though back in the moment, ready to jump into the action when their cue came. “I grab my watch,” she pulled the chess piece back out, “and then I  _ disappear.” _ Aelwyn snapped both her fingers and vanished in a wisp of shadow.

“Oh, you bitch,” Adaine laughed, assuming a determined expression. “I cast Blink to find where the fuck you’re running to, you little coward.” She flourished with her hands as though casting the spell, and whirled around waiting for her sister to pop back into view. A second later Aelwyn reappeared a short distance from where she was before. 

Riz, bouncing on his toes, whirled around and pointed at her. “She’s on the patio! I’m jumping out the window!” he shouted. Letting out a screech in Goblin, he leapt for Aelwyn. 

“‘Aagh, you little freak weirdo! Fuck you!’” she sputtered, reciting her old lines and still in good nature, yet genuinely knocked down by the ‘attack.’ 

“Fuck her up!” Adaine called back, laughing at her sister being tackled by a goblin half her size.

“You’re on the ethereal plane, none of us can hear you!” Aelwyn shot back, lightly shoving Riz off.

“‘Where did that sound come from?’” Kristen mused, still playing along and pretending to look around in wonder.

“That is  _ so _ not the point!” Adaine laughed.

“I cast Blink,” Aelwyn continued the scene, standing and brushing herself off. She made direct eye contact with her sister across the courtyard. “And what do I see there, little sister?”

“It’s me, bitch.” Adaine bore the most shit-eating of smirks.

“‘Oh, what the  _ fuck? _ Oh, that’s  _ bullshit!’” _ Aelwyn spat, both embodying the intoxicated ire of her past self and the playful, childish joy of her current one. Her little sister flipped her off with both hands, and Aelwyn returned the gesture. “‘Fuck you.’”

“‘I’m gonna tell on you  _ so bad, _ you’re gonna be grounded  _ forever.’” _

“‘Uh,’” Aelwyn scoffed. “‘Not if I kill you and your friends first!’”

“‘Fuck you, bitch, I’m gonna kill you so bad.’” The old flame of rage and determination sparked again behind Adaine’s eyes, the same look she got facing off against Wicklaw in Leviathan, the high elves in Fallinel, her parents in the Forest. It was almost startling the way she set her body for real combat here and now, just as fiery but much more muscular than her little old freshman self. “‘I wanted to do this my  _ entire life.’” _

“‘And you’re not going to get to. A sad ending to a sad chapter in a very sad book,’” Aelwyn continued. Childishly, Adaine began to mock her words in high-pitched, cartoonish gibberish, scrunching up her face. “‘Fuck you, I thought that was cool, I was doing a cool thing.’”

“Sol’s son,” Tracker muttered, folding her arms and watching the scene unfold. “Did it really all go down like this?” By her side, Kristen nodded. Tracker let out a low whistle as she exhaled. “They really used to be like this all the time?”

“Yeah,” Kristen confirmed. “It’s kind of crazy to think about.” Tracker squinted after a beat and glanced sideways at her girlfriend.

“What were  _ you _ doing this whole time?”

Kristen laughed. “Uh, almost making out with an elemental cheerleader, who then turned evil and started trying to kill us.” Tracker began to crack up.

“That checks out, alright.”

“I was helping! I swear!”

“Okay,” Adaine said, dashing off to the side a few feet and continuing the scene. “I blink back to the material plane and cast Web to catch my bitch sister when she does too,” she explains, holding out her hands and pretending to shoot a mass of sticky strings at Riz and Aelwyn. “Sorry, Riz!” she added quickly, as the goblin leapt and rolled away from the imagined spell’s affected range. 

“‘Oh,  _ fuck!’” _ Aelwyn exclaimed, throwing up her arms in disgust as though suddenly entangled in the webs.

Adaine laughed, almost uproariously. “Oh, and I blink back into the ethereal plane,” she added after calming down. She made another face at her sister and flipped her the double bird again.

“‘Oh, I _know_ you’re fucking watching, you little bitch. God, I fucking _hate_ you! Always taking my _things,_ you’re such a piece of--’” Aelwyn ranted, looking genuinely affected, genuinely enraged. The line between reciting quotes from memory as an actor and reliving the sentiment and vitriol seemed slurred now. “‘You’re so _annoying!’”_ Exhaling in disgust and glaring pointedly at her sister, she shook her hands roughly and continued. “I blink back to the ethereal plane as well. ‘Well, at least when your web gets burned up by my elemental, I won’t be there to feel it.’” She toddled her head around in condescension.

In a very measured voice, Adaine simply replied, “‘I am going to kill you.’”

“‘Well, we’ll just have to see about that. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve...failed a test.’”

Some of the Bad Kids winced or made noises in reaction to that. “Ooh…” Fig said, eyes widening.

“Yikes,” Gorgug agreed.

Adaine bit her lip, possibly fighting back another grin. “I just really want to fucking punch you,” she said, laughing again and balling her fists. “Rrgh. Okay. I blink back to the material plane again,” she continued, pacing slightly. “And I know she’s coming for me, so I’m going to hide behind this--” she ducked behind Kristen and Tracker. “This door, here. So as soon as she pops back, I hit her with Dispel Magic.” She held one hand up, pointed in a fingergun, ‘fired’ it right at Aelwyn.

“I’m climbing back up through the window,” Riz followed, positioning himself behind his friend in a readied stance. “And I shoot again.”

Aelwyn grunted, ducking to the side. “Well, you get my Blink spell,” she conceded. “Lucky you. But nothing else.” She re-steadied herself while Riz and Adaine shared a glance with each other.

“‘We gonna get blasted, Adaine,’” he said. 

“‘I don’t give a fuck, I’m gonna kill her,’” Adaine returned. With a chuckle, she continued, “‘And if she kills me, so be it, she will be in so much trouble.’”

“‘You little fucker,’” Aelwyn growled. She stepped forward and thrust her hands out, throwing an imaginary blast of ice their way. Adaine and Riz both stumbled back, ducking and covering their heads with their arms in protection. Riz, honoring the game, fell back on his ass and rolled to lay flat on the ground.

“I’m down,” he exhaled. 

“Okay,” Gorgug said, finally joining the action. He dashed over, grabbed Kristen around the waist, and jumped, bringing them both beside Adaine. “I jump through the window and I ask, uh, ‘What is happening?’”

“‘I’m going to kill my sister!’” Adaine answered, fire in her eyes. 

“‘How did she stop time?’”

“‘I don’t fucking know!’” Adaine gestured in frustration beside Gorgug. “'Just kill her!'”

“She stopped time?” Ayda asked, watching from the sidelines by Fig.

“She had your dad’s magic pocket watch,” the tiefling explained. “The sneaky bitch.”

“Fascinating.” 

“And then,” Aelwyn continued the scene, eyes darting around. “One of my elementals crashes in behind you,” she pointed to them, then made a face, having no one to play the part. She shot a look to Fig. The tiefling rolled her eyes and obliged her, casting a Minor Illusion to create a wisp of shadow behind Gorgug and Kristen. Aelwyn made another face. “That’s  _ it?” _

“Hey, it’s Minor Illusion,” Fig countered, sticking out her tongue. “Conjure your  _ own _ elemental if you want something better-looking.”

Aelwyn huffed in response. “Fine. My  _ elemental _ crashes in to attack you--”

“But I’ve got Spirit Guardians active,” Kristen pointed out, smirking. “And they beat the shit out of your elemental when she gets here. And then I heal Riz back up with Cure Wounds,” she continued, pointing at the goblin, popping back off the ground.

Fig laughed. “Okay, I’ve let you guys have enough fun without me, I’m tagging in now.” Leaving Ayda’s side, she bounced over to join the quorum of the Bad Kids.

“What have you been doing this whole time?” Ayda asked as she went.

“Oh you know,” Fig answered. “Kicking elemental ass out on the lawn.”

“Aren’t you on fire?” Gorgug asked, giving her a questioning look.

“Didn’t we just see you get thrown into the air, fall back down, and jump back up through the window two seconds ago?” Riz followed, getting back up on his feet. Fig made a face and a cutting motion at her neck to get them to shut it. 

“Where’s Fabian?” Tracker asked. He huffed loudly from the side of the courtyard, now more or less alone. 

“I’m  _ coming!” _ he shouted back. “I’m dealing with--I’m getting  _ all _ the guys outside still--”

Fig snorted. “You’re done wetting your pants and finally coming back to the fight?” Fabian flipped her off in response and she cackled.

“Didn’t you get knocked out in the pool?” Gorgug asked. 

“Shut  _ up!” _

“Alright,” Adaine refocused on the scene. “I use Mage Hand to try and steal the watch from my sister’s pocket.”

Aelwyn smirks and flicks her wrist. “Counterspell. You slam your face into the door and I say, ‘Oh, a little bit of telekinesis? I didn’t realize we were back in  _ grade school.’”. _

“I take another shot,” Riz said, training a fingergun on Aelwyn and firing. “And  _ this _ time, it  _ hits."  _ Respectfully, Aelwyn grunted and threw her head back as an imaginary bullet grazed her cheek.

“Only slightly,” she corrected him.

“It counts.”

“‘I’m getting very  _ tired  _ of you.’”

“‘We should spread out!’” he advised his party members, diving and rolling off to the side, pretending to hide in a toilet behind Tracker’s legs.

Re-composing herself, Aelwyn stood up straight again and raised an eyebrow at her sister. “I cast Firebolt on my sister and then disappear.” With one hand she flourished her attack and with the other she snapped and vanished from sight. 

_ “Fuck,” _ Adaine groaned, taking the imaginary hit and tumbling to the ground. “I am down.”

“No you’re not,” Kristen corrected, as Gorgug leapt away after some other fictitious enemy. “Cure wounds. Get back up, girl.”

“Where did Aelwyn go?” Tracker asked. 

“Up,” Kristen answered, looking to the sky. “Roof.” As if on cue, Aelwyn reappeared several feet away, at the top of the steps in the courtyard. “Let’s go, team!” Kristen made a start, and immediately tripped over her own sandals and stumbled before getting up a single stair. Fabian began to haul ass over to his friends. Adaine pulled heaved herself back to her feet. 

“I have no choice,” she sighed, “but to attempt to climb onto the roof.” 

“Not very strong yet are you, little sister?” Aelwyn taunted from the top of the stairs. Adaine glared up at her, only walking calmly over to the steps, respecting the events of the battle.

“Hey!” Fig called, pointing. “Your fuckin’ elemental!” she called. Aelwyn looked confused.

“What?”

“I cast Suggestion!” Grinning, she cast another Minor Illusion and created an obnoxious gust of wind to whirl around the wizard. She glanced over her shoulder back at Ayda, who looked confused. “I told it to get the pocket watch. It’s just a Minor Illusion, I can’t make it look  _ that _ cool.”

Riz jumped out from behind Tracker and darted up the first few steps. “Another shot,” he said, taking aim. His gaze and imaginary bullet both met Aelwyn dead-on. Grinning, he immediately ducked down, hiding behind the lip of the next step.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she hissed back at him, reaching out a clawed hand in his direction. Real magic lightning crackled between her fingers, but did not leap out in an actual attack. It still sent a course of worry through Riz’s veins to see. 

Ayda stepped forward and raised an arm. The chess piece flew in a Mage Hand out of Aelwyn’s pocket, who whipped her head around to look in shock. “This is right?” she asked, glancing to Fig.

“Yeah babe! Exactly!” Fig grinned and gave her a thumbs-up, having apparently been Messaging her paramour to play the part of the elemental from a distance.

Gorgug let out a determined snarl and bounded all the way up the steps to Aelwyn. Swiping a hand through the air, he snatched the chess piece and held it aloft, out of the elf’s reach. “I got it!” The Bad Kids below cheered.

“But my elementals take you down,” Aelwyn reminds him, stepping forward and pushing him back with a hand on his chest. He grunted, playing along, and fell back on his ass on the top step. 

“I go into a rage.” Roaring in determination, Adaine booked it up all the way to the top of the stairs, made a beeline for her sister, and swung a punch right at Aelwyn’s face.  _ “‘Fuck you, bitch!’” _

Much stronger now than she was only a year ago, Adaine’s fist collided with Aelwyn’s cheek and knocked her clean to the ground with a surprised gasp. “‘Are you fucking  _ insane!?’” _

_ “‘YES I’m fucking INSANE! YOU MAKE ME FUCKING INSANE!’” _

Aelwyn rubbed her sore cheek with one hand and looked up at her sister, the genuine rage burning in her eyes, and wondered for the first time if this had gotten out of hand, wondered if this was really still just a game or not, wondered how badly she’d fucked up. Propping herself up on her elbows, she grunted and almost desperately threw another imaginary spell Riz’s way, and he tumbled backwards down the stairs again.

“Ugh. I’m down again,” he muttered. At the same time, Kristen managed to climb all the way up to the top without tripping over her own feet again. 

“Sol’s son, okay. I heal Gorgug back up and take the pocket watch,” she said, offering her friend a hand and helping pull him to his feet (although really she was almost just pulled down by him herself). He passed the chess piece along to her and she stuffed it into her bra. 

Fig now joined them, not all the way up but near the upper half of the stairs. “I cast Shatter!” she called, in reality using Thaumaturgy to cause some tremors on the top step.

Now Fabian rushed up the stairs, grappling Aelwyn in a Bloodrush tackle. He maneuvered her into a headlock and held her restrained on the ground, staring up anxiously at her sister. 

Adaine’s fist was clenched tightly at her side, and she approached slowly, with a scary determination. Her face was stony, frowning in anger and hatred and malice. In a moment, she bared her teeth and lunged forward, reeling back her hand for another swing. Aelwyn squinted her eyes shut and prepared for the worst.


	13. Chapter 13

Which never came. A beat later, blinking her eyes back open, she saw her sister above her again, dropping her fist, all her darkness melting away with a sigh. Adaine merely lifted a finger and pointed it at her.

“Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.” 

Everyone was quiet for a moment, the air still thick with tension. Then, Aelwyn chuckled once. Then again. Adaine’s face softened, and she smiled, beginning to laugh, too. Kind, good-natured, genuine laughs. Fabian loosened his grip on Aelwyn and Adaine held a hand down to help her up; Aelwyn took it and allowed her sister to pull her first to her feet and then into a tight hug. 

“Hey,” Aelwyn said, their chuckling dying down and pulling back a little from their hug.

“Hey,” Adaine returned, smiling warmly.

“You really had me worried there, for a moment.” 

“Yeah,” Adaine conceded. “I may have gotten a little...carried away.”

“I probably deserved it.”

“You did, yeah,” Adaine agreed. They laughed again.

“You punches have gotten a lot better since last year, I’ll grant you that,” Aelwyn commented, squinting, smirking, and rubbing her cheek. “I should be so lucky if that doesn’t  _ bruise.”  _ Adaine made a face, admitting she was a little sorry for that one. “Well,” Aelwyn sniffed, continuing. She threw her hair back and placed her hands on her hips. “I do hope I’ve proved my point.”

“Which was…?” Fig prompted, raising a brow and making a face.

“That Adaine is perfectly capable of taking a fight by herself.”

“I wasn’t by myse--!” her sister began to protest. Aelwyn held a hand up to stop her.

“Ah-ah-ah! Really, Adaine, won’t you drop it already? You ran in swinging at  _ me  _ \-- arguably the most formidable wizard you knew this time last year -- whether your friends were there to back you up or not, and you  _ beat me, _ fair and square. So just,” she waved a hand about to punctuate her points. “Go in there and do that again. No one’s going to be tougher than what you’ve already faced.”

Adaine pursed her lips and squinted at her sister. “You’re lucky I’ve sworn off trying to kill you,” she said.

Aelwyn smirked back. “And  _ you’re _ lucky  _ I’ve _ sworn off trying to kill  _ you.”  _ The pair chuckled again. “Now, what time is it?”

Adaine pulled out her crystal and checked the time. “About 12:10.”

“I think someone better run and sign up for a duel timeslot.” Adaine’s worried, furrowed-brown frown returned and she looked away. “Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you’re still worried. Just go in there, throw a Furious Fist, and be done with it. No one’s prepared to counter an original spell.”

“No, no, it’s not that,” Adaine shook her head, glancing around nervously. Gaze locking on Ayda, she quickly descended the steps and came over. “It’s about original spells.”

“I thought you were going to use Furious Fist?” Kristen asked. 

“I can’t.”

Ayda cocked her head to the side curiously. “I have already given you permission to use Adaine’s Furious Fist however you please. It’s a spell I crafted specifically for you.”

Adaine shook her head again. “No -- I mean, for dueling, yes. But I can’t submit it as an original spell for judging.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t write it,” Adaine admitted. “I can’t submit a spell  _ you _ wrote and take credit for it. That’s plagiarism.”

“I see,” Ayda said thoughtfully, stroking her chin. “You have Comprehend Subtext. I’ve found it a very useful spell so far, I believe any judge would appreciate its utility.”

Adaine ran her fingers through her hair and huffed in frustration. “No, it’ll never -- it’s basically just an edit of Comprehend Languages, that’s not impressive.” 

“Do you have any other spells you’ve crafted?” Adaine shook her head and pursed her lips.

“Weren’t you working on that ice cream spell?” Fabian asked. “Something to do with Basrar?”

“Yes, but that’s not  _ ready _ yet,” she admitted. “That’s just like...a side project. It’s nowhere  _ near _ done. What do I  _ do?” _

“Do you  _ have _ to submit something?”

“Well, no, but…”

Aelwyn exhaled. “Submitting original spells is optional, but you can earn a lot of points that way..” She paused. “Bee winners always submit something.”

“Did you?” Fabian asked. Aelwyn nodded. 

“Of course.”

“What’d  _ you _ submit?” 

“I…” Aelwyn blinked in thought, furrowed her brow. “...hm. I don’t quite remember.”

Riz made a face. “You remembered every detail of that whole entire party but not a spell that  _ you wrote _ and won the Bee with?”

“Not  _ every _ detail of that party…” Fabian muttered, trailing off. Aelwyn smirked sideways at him, and he looked away sheepishly. 

“Enough details. But…” She sighed. “I’ve written a number of spells. I don’t remember which one I submitted. Truly, my...memory is not what it used to be.” A beat. “That night is one of the last things I can recall before Fallinel,” she admitted. “Those details are still fresh, but not so for everything else.”

Adaine’s ears flicked, perking up as she heard this, getting an idea. “Gods,” she said quietly, then whirled around and bounded back up the steps to her sister. “Aelwyn, can you do something for me?” 

Aelwyn blinked. “Anything, what do you need?” 

“I know what spell to submit but I need help writing it down, I don’t have time if I’m about to duel.” She began to pull a notebook and pen out of her backpack and thrust them out to her sister. “Can you help me start it? And--” They locked eyes. “--write down yours, too?”

Aelwyn frowned unsurely at the notebook. “I, erm…” She knew what Adaine was asking, no Message cantrip needed. 

“I know you know what to do,” Adaine said. Now it was her turn to reassure her sister of her own abilities.

“Adaine, I don’t know if I…”

“Please?” A pause. Adaine’s eyes and frown were pleading, but full of care and gentleness. 

“...I’ll help you write yours,” Aelwyn sighed. 

Adaine leaned in and hugged her again. “Thank you,” she said, practically a whisper. “And yours?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“You don’t have to show it to anyone if you don’t want to. I just…I think they should go together.”

“I know. I’ll think about it.” Aelwyn nodded. She breathed in, let it out, gave her sister’s arm a squeeze. “Now,” she said, regaining her more confident air, “I believe someone has a duel to get to.”

Adaine nodded. “You’ll be there?”

Her sister scoffed. “Of course I’ll be there, you think I’d miss the chance to watch you kick some whiny little twerp’s ass?”

Adaine grinned again. “Okay. Gods, okay. I’m gonna go. I’ll see you soon. Thank you,” she said, securing her backpack on her shoulders and taking off once again down the stairs. She paused only long enough to collect her jacket back from Ayda before disappearing back into the building, running off, leaving the Bad Kids in the courtyard with Aelwyn and the notebook.

“Where’d my chess piece go?” Riz asked after a while, returning to the bottom of the stairs where the board was still set up mid-game. 

“Oh, here,” Kristen said, producing it from her bra. Riz grimaced.

“You put it in your  _ bra??” _ he asked, slightly revolted. Kristen laughed.

“Where else was I supposed to put it?”

“Your  _ pocket??” _

“It’s nature’s pocket!”

“What time do the duels start?” Gorgug asked as everybody leisurely made their way back down the steps. 

“12:30, I think,” Fig answered.

“I’m kinda hungry. Do you think we have time to grab something to eat? They have food here, right?” 

Aelwyn nodded, her nose already buried in the notebook as she flipped through it to find a clean page and begin scrawling something down. “Someone might want to reserve seats in the Great Hall before duels start before they fill up,” she advised. 

“Let’s,” Fabian decided, leading the way. Riz packed up the chessboard back into his briefcase and tagged along, following Fabian, Gorgug, Kristen, and Tracker out. Fig and Ayda brought up the rear, slowing to make sure Aelwyn was following. 

“You coming with?” Fig asked, turning back when they noticed the elf lagging behind, still standing by the steps and scanning through the notebook. 

“Huh?” she said, looking up. “Oh, I’ll join you later. I need to get started on this--” she began to explain.

The door opened again and a group of three girls walked out into the courtyard, chatting among themselves. Aelwyn went quiet, pursing her lips tightly as they walked out. One of the girls looked up, noticed her, quieted and slowed. She and one of her companions wore a familiar blue-and-white Hudol uniform.

“Aelwyn? Is that you?” she asked.

Fig and Ayda glanced back to their elf, who swallowed the lump in her throat, looking like a deer in headlights.

“It’s me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you once again for your patience! i hope these (rather long, lol) three chapters were worth the wait and i'm excited to keep going and share what else i have in store soon.


	14. Chapter 14

Aelwyn closed the notebook and held it tightly pressed to her chest. Her free hand went and immediately began fidgeting with the knotted sleeves of her flannel around her waist. She glanced aside, catching Fig’s concerned glance and a Message cantrip.

_ “Do you know these guys?”  _

Aelwyn forced herself to take a deep breath.  _ “Yes,” _ she Messaged back to Fig. 

_ “Who are they?” _

_ “My former…” _ Best friends.  _ “...classmates.” _

_ “Should we…?”  _ Fig asked. Aelwyn bit her lip and shook her head, very stiffly.

“Aelwyn!” The girl repeated meanwhile, breaking into an excited grin. The eyes of her fellow Hudol companion widened in similar recognition. 

Aelwyn reminded herself to breathe again. “Yes, it’s me. Hello, Madison, Caitlyn,” she greeted, relaxing enough to nod and, if not smile, then loosen her frown in their direction. 

“Gods, who would’ve thought we’d see  _ you _ here today? It’s been forever!” The first girl, a human apparently named Madison, approached, holding her arms out to welcome an old friend. 

“Yeah, where have you  _ been?”  _ Caitlyn, another human, followed, as did the third of their party, an elf in another school’s uniform. She noticed Fig and Ayda off to the side and smiled in recognition.

“Hello again!” Emma greeted. Fig waved casually. Ayda leaned down to ask her a question.

“Do we know this elf?” she asked, doing well to remember to whisper.

Fig shrugged. “Adaine was talking to her when we first saw her this morning.”

“Right, yes.” Ayda stood back up. 

“You’re not competing again, are you?” Caitlyn asked Aelwyn, who avoided eye contact.

“Ah, no, not this year,” she answered. “You must be, I presume.” The girls nodded.

Madison scoffed and folded her arms. “Giving the rest of us a chance for once?”

“Something to that end.” 

“What brings you to the Bee, then? If you’re not competing,” Caitlyn continued. Whatever smile had begun to play at the corners of Aelwyn’s lips tightened again.

“I’m just here for my sister.” Her fingers worked to untie her flannel, a little difficult with only one hand. 

“Oh, Adaine, right?” Emma asked, jumping in. “I met her on the way in today. Is she your sister?” Aelwyn nodded. The humans made faces, stifled scoffs. 

“Your sister is competing today?” Madison asked.

“Did you come to see her fail?” Caitlyn followed. Clearly, they thought the concept of Adaine at the Bee quite amusing. Clearly, Aelwyn did not.

“No, I came to see her  _ win,” _ Aelwyn corrected, frowning pointedly. “She has a very good shot at the top, you know, she’s quite the young wizard.” The Hudol girls blinked, not used to hearing their old friend say something  _ positive _ about her sister. 

“You can’t be serious,” Caitlyn chuckled. Aelwyn’s face told her she was. Caitlyn faltered. 

Madison jumped back in to try to smooth the tension. “...Well, it’s  _ wild _ to see you here again today. We haven’t heard a  _ word _ from you since last year.”

Aelwyn’s grip tightened a little around the spiral binding of the notebook, holding it a little closer to her chest. “Right.”

“It was like you just disappeared without a trace,” Caitlyn added.

“Right,” Aelwyn repeated.

“You know, there was a rumor you got arrested.”

Madison scoffed, shooting a look to her friend. “That was bogus, though.  _ I _ bet she went back to Fallinel when the war broke out. Professor Abernant left too, remember?” The pair glanced back to Aelwyn questioningly, as did Emma, who seemed to be studying something about her closely. 

Aelwyn felt her cheeks and ears heat up. “Well…” 

“Where have you  _ been?” _ Caitlyn asked again.

She let go of working on the flannel and gestured dismissively with her hand in the air. “You got me, I went back to Fallinel with my family,” she admitted, a little cagily.

“What happened?” Madison followed.

“Why’d you leave so suddenly?” Caitlyn pressed.

“How did you get that scar?” Emma asked.

Aelwyn blanched, glanced down, stepped back, held the notebook even tighter to her chest, trying to hide the worst of it. The human girls’ eyes widened as they noticed it anyway; it was hard to hide fully. Despite the burning heat from the sun and her own embarrassment, Aelwyn wished to every higher and lower power she had gotten her stupid fucking flannel back on before now.

“Oh, shit,” Madison muttered in surprise.

“That’s new,” Caitlyn commented, tilting her head. 

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” Emma apologized, trying to hold up a placating hand. “It’s just -- my father is a healer, I’ve seen scars before.”

“What in Spyre did  _ that?” _ Madison pressed, apparently more curious and less sheepish about it. “Some kind of spell, surely.”

“That couldn’t be a  _ spell.  _ Aelwyn’s the best abjurer at Hudol,” Caitlyn argued.

_ “Was,” _ Madison corrected her. Aelwyn’s cheeks burned.

“Ex _ cuse _ me,” she said pointedly, being mostly ignored.

“Something high level,” Emma commented, her fascination winning out over her politeness. “It looks like maybe Lightning Bolt? I’ve never seen it like -- I’m sorry, may I--?” She stepped forward, reached a hand out gently to move the notebook away and get a better look. Aelwyn jerked away.

“Absolutely not,” she said firmly. 

_ “Aelwyn Abernant _ got struck with a Lightning Bolt spell?” Caitlyn squinted, trying to add the details up in her head.  _ “The _ abjuration prodigy?”

“What in Helio’s name did  _ that?” _ Madison continued. 

“What were you  _ doing _ in Fallinel?” Emma asked softly. 

“I...uh…” Aelwyn stammered. How in the  _ hell _ was she supposed to answer any of that?

“How ‘bout protecting the Elven Oracle?” Fig answered for her. The tiefling folded her arms and raised an eyebrow as all four girls turned to look at her, the humans in curiosity and Emma in wide-eyed disbelief.

“You  _ what?? _ For real??” Emma asked, gasping and turning to look at Aelwyn, who was still processing Fig’s interjection.

“I…”

“Yes,  _ for real,” _ Fig confirmed, grinning and walking over to stand beside Aelwyn. She gave a sideways wink to her, hopefully giving her the reassurance and support she so clearly and desperately needed right now.

“...What?” Madison asked, blinking. 

Caitlyn squinted. “Aren’t you Fig? From the band?”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

“What the hell do  _ you _ know about that?”

“‘Cause I’m friends with Aelwyn’s sister, so now  _ we’re _ friends, too,” Fig explained firmly, putting an arm around Aelwyn and pulling their shoulders together.

“You  _ know _ the  _ Oracle,” _ Emma repeated, starstruck.

“I…” Aelwyn said. Fig gave her arm a squeeze. “...Yes.”

“Ooohh!!” Emma practically bounced from foot to foot in excitement. “No way!! No way, no way, no way!! What are they like??”

“She’s...smart. Incredibly smart. And...resilient. Doesn’t give up without a fight.” Aelwyn exhaled, trying to relax. Her frown loosened, she lowered the notebook a little. “Inspiring.”

“Wow,” Emma sighed, smiling incredulously. “Incredible. You must be so lucky.”

“How lucky can you be to get a scar like that?” Caitlyn asked. 

Almost fully visible now, a web of off-colored lines snaked and zigzagged across Aelwyn’s chest, neck, shoulders, and upper arms, with the most gnarled and damaged looking skin twisting out from an epicenter just above her heart, poking above her tank top. Long sleeves covered the worst of it, leaving visible just the faintest and sparsest of scarring up the side of her neck and on the bottom of her jawline, but in a tank top there was no way to obscure it. 

“Lightning Bolt,” Emma whispered, taking it in. “High-level.” A beat. “Direct hit.”

“You said you were  _ protecting  _ the  _ Oracle?” _ Madison asked, skeptical, though not  _ quite _ as pushy as her companion. Aelwyn frowned and looked at the ground, oddly ashamed. Fig once again came to the rescue.

“Damn right, she did. Why do you think she left Solace in the first place?  _ And _ in such a hurry?” The tiefling held up a clawed finger. Before anyone could hazard a guess, Fig answered for them. “Be _ cause, _ when the  _ old  _ Oracle suddenly died, and then Fallinel went to  _ war, _ they  _ realized _ they were going to need the best and brightest wizards to help protect the new one.” She squeezed Aelwyn’s arm again. “A whole family of highly skilled, Fallinese, high elven wizards? Among them the  _ best damn abjurer _ you could get? Of  _ course _ she had to go back right away. She had an important job to do.” Aelwyn had to admit, she could almost find herself believing the tiefling’s lies. Charismatic, indeed, that rockstar.

“What an honor,” Emma said, still wide-eyed. Madison and Caitlyn regarded their old friend, still a little suspiciously, but also a little sadly, maybe regretfully. 

“Is that true?” Madison asked. “That’s what you’ve been doing for the past year?”

“...In a sense, yes,” Aelwyn finally confirmed. 

“You were, like,” Caitlyn continued,  _ “the _ Elven Oracle’s  _ personal bodyguard?” _

Aelwyn made a face. “Not...exactly?”

“So then what were you doing that whole time?”

“I can’t, uh, really say.” Aelwyn sniffed, shook her head, stood up a little straighter. Tried to summon some of the haughty confidence of her old self. “That’s not really privileged information. Suffice it to say, yes, I  _ did _ protect the Oracle.”

“That’s how you got that scar?” Madison asked. Aelwyn nodded.

“So,” Emma’s grin finally faltered, her ears drooping. “Someone tried to...kill her?”

There was an uneasy silence for a beat. “...Yes,” Aelwyn finally answered, adding after another pause, “but we...took care of them. Easily. She’s not in any danger anymore.” She sniffed pointedly.

“...wow.”

“...jeez,” Madison said, rubbing the back of her neck. 

“We had no idea,” Caitlyn added.

“Well,” Aelwyn responded. “I think that was part of the point.” 

Caitlyn turned and squinted again at Fig. “You knew all this?” The tiefling nodded. “How in the  _ hell _ did you find out?”

“I told you, Adaine’s my friend. Aelwyn’s her sister. That was a whole,” Fig waved her hand dismissively, “family thing for them.”

“So Professor Abernant’s coming back, then?” 

“No,” Aelwyn said, a hair too quickly. “No,” she repeated, recomposing herself. “No, she’s still, ah, busy. She won’t be coming back anytime soon.”

“Oh.”

“Does that mean you won’t be staying, then, either?” Madison asked. Aelwyn blinked, looking at her questioningly. “If you were all summoned back to Fallinel, and she’s still working but you’re here, does that mean you’ll have to go back again?”

“Oh,” Aelwyn considered this for a second. “No. Of course not.”

“What do you mean, ‘of course not?’”

“My mother isn’t working with the Oracle. Of course not. She’s a researcher.  _ I’m _ the abjurer, so  _ I _ worked with the Oracle directly as protection. That’s done for now, and I'm not a _child,_ so I came back to Solace. Simple.”

“Why not stay?”

Aelwyn drew in a breath, let it out. “If she needs my help, she’ll ask for it. Otherwise, she’s more than capable of handling it herself.” 

“Wait, okay,” Caitlyn interjected again. “One last question. If the  _ whole _ family went back to Fallinel for this war and Oracle stuff,” she started, holding up a finger. “Then why’d your  _ sister _ stay in Elmville while the rest of you left?”

Aelwyn blinked, left without an answer. Getting arrested, then abducted, then arrested again, Adaine had been far from the forefront of her mind before her memory was locked away and subsequently erased. What and why Adaine was doing over the past year, she couldn’t say.

“‘Cause she was busy kicking ass at triple-A with us?” Fig jumped in again, always to the rescue. “Besides, what need does Fallinel have for a regular old teenage diviner when they’ve got an Oracle to worry about?” she countered, snorting and smirking. If it wasn’t a satisfactory enough answer for them, they weren’t about to start arguing it any further, especially not when Fig continued talking, cutting out further chances for them to protest. “Anyway, we gotta head over to the Great Hall now and get seats before the duels start. ‘Cause Aelwyn’s sister is competing and she’s going to kick some  _ major _ ass. You won’t wanna miss it. Trust me.” The rockstar flashed them a grin.

The two humans exchanged looks, while their elven companion glanced between them, Fig, and Aelwyn. 

“...I don’t see any harm in watching for a bit,” Caitlyn finally said.

“Could be interesting.” Madison concurred. They looked to their former friend and illustrious classmate. “See how things have changed.”

“Maybe catch up a bit.”

“Maybe,” Aelwyn followed. “We’ll see.”

Fig squeezed her arm gently. “We should get going, ‘s almost time.” The rest of the girls nodded, and began to head for the door. Fig pulled Aelwyn along to trail behind them, with Ayda bringing up the rear. 

_ “For the record,” _ Aelwyn heard a voice in her head say. She glanced over, and though Fig was looking nonchalantly ahead of them as they walked, she could tell the Message came from her.  _ “I think your scars look really badass, but I also get that you don’t wanna show them off all the time.”  _

Aelwyn looked down as Fig continued.  _ “...why did you do all that?”  _ she asked after a beat.

_ “Do what?” _

_ “Lie. To help me. It seemed so easy for you.” _

_ “Sure it was.”  _ Fig shrugged.  _ “‘Cause...it seemed really uncomfortable? And I know I don’t really come off as an open book--”  _ Aelwyn scoffed. Fig giggled.  _ “--but I know that when  _ I’ve  _ been in that position, I want someone to step in for me, too.” _

Aelwyn furrowed her brow.  _ “When?” _

_ “If,”  _ Fig corrected quickly.  _ “Whatever.” _

“Hm,” Aelwyn said aloud.  _ “Well...thank you,” _ she messaged back after a moment.

_ “No problem. I’ve gotchur back, girl.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to prep school bitches. anyway thank you again for your patience and for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This one goes out to all my fellow Fantasy High stans who did way too many extracurriculars in high school, and anyone else who's seen the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, 'cause that plus my love for the Abernant sisters is basically everything that motivated me to write this. I didn't spend four years going to every math team comp, science olympiad meet, chem day expo, all state music ensemble, sports scrimmage, etc, OR grow up sister to a very accomplished older sibling to NOT write about academic competitions. I never did a real spelling bee myself but I did see the musical in middle school and that's close enough.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading! Leave a comment if you'd like and/or check me out on tumblr [here!](https://supercantaloupe.tumblr.com/)


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